


The Rise of a Queen

by Silver Ink (SilverOwlCity)



Series: Everything Rises and Subsequently Falls [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Evil Audrey (Disney: Descendants), I'm Bad At Tagging, Made up lore, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, References to Shakespeare, Time Travel, We Die Like Men, bending canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2020-10-09 03:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 26,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20488445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverOwlCity/pseuds/Silver%20Ink
Summary: He rejected her.His precious little villain princess had fled. She had abandoned him and their people and still, he rejected her.A new form of hatred burned in her chest. It seemed, she had finally crossed that little line between love and hate.“Sleeping is too good for you."





	1. The Queen Rises

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own most of the characters or places. They belong to Disney along with the rest of this world.

The scepter – the Dragon’s Eye – called out to her. A voice deep inside pleaded with her to leave it be. It sounded suspiciously like Ben’s. She ignored it, placing her crown on her head – right where it should be. Her hand wrapped around the staff.

The Dragon’s Eye hummed, sparking to life. It pulsed once as Audrey got used to the feeling of power in her hand, greeting her.

“If they want a villain for a queen, I’m gonna be one like they’ve never seen.” The magic jewel hummed in agreement.

She spun toward the exit, slamming the scepter on the ground.

“I want what I deserve!”

A magenta wave of magic spread over the room, shattering the glass chandelier above her head.

The Dark Queen vanished in a cloud of pink and blue.

In her cage, Maleficent woke, feeling the call of her scepter. No – not quite. The Dragon’s Eye was indeed awake, but it was someone else controlling it.

She felt her claim to the artifact sever. The Dragon’s Eye – the heart of darkness – was no longer under the command of the mistress of evil.

There was a new threat in Auradon.

The jewel trapped inside her scepter glowed pleasantly. Audrey could have sworn it was green, but could admit that she much preferred the deep purple it beamed now.

Speaking of purple, there was a certain daughter of a villain she needed to speak with.

A pink fog enveloped her and lead her to where the girl was in her friend’s garden.

“Good. I was hoping you’d be home,” she greeted, appearing in front of Mal.

The villain flinched back. “Is this a joke?” Her eyes widened. “What are you doing with the crown and the scepter?”

She snorted and smirked. “Oh well, I wanted them.” She shrugged. “So, I took them. You, of all people, should understand that, Mal.”

The new queen pulled her new scepter back, watch the fear of the girl before her.

“Audrey, stop! Don’t do that!”

“What? I thought you liked spells,” she spat back.

“That’s not a toy!” Mal shot back. “It’s dangerous.”

Audrey scoffed derisively. “I _want _to be dangerous! My life was perfect before you. You stole everything from me. And now? Now it’s time for a little payback!”

“Audrey –”

Growling, the Dark Queen threw her scepter forward. A pulse of indigo magic burst from the Dragon’s Eye. She felt the shock of the power and watched as the smoke covered Maleficent’s daughter.

“You think Ben will love you now, _hag_? You’ll pay for what you did.”

The other villain kids came rushing from the house in defense of their leader.

“You and all of Auradon will pay.”

Concentrating, she pulled the pink fog from the jewel and let it wrapped around her. And within an instant, she was gone.

Oh, the irony.

The sweet, _sweet_ irony. A party – a _birthday_ party – that she hadn’t been invited to. Just like that lizard woman.

She’d sunken to the same low as _Maleficent_.

The humiliated loathing churning in her gut made her sympathize with the villain. No wonder the Dark Fairy had reacted the way she had.

“A party?” she sneered. “And you forgot to invite me? Shame.”

She paced around the small clearing. The other students were frozen in shock and fear. She bathed in their attention proudly.

Chad rushed from another stretch of woods. “Wait, wait, wait!”

“Got to say, I’m loving the new look. The feathers are perfect,” he sputtered. He quickly continued, “The black and the pink really complement each other. And the new hair –”

She held a hand up to stop him. “What do you want?”

“Don’t you need a loyal boyfriend at your side? Or an – an errand boy or sidekick?” She looked at him, unimpressed. “Or maybe just a lackey to go on smoothie runs.”

His eyes were wide, pleading.

Audrey curled her lip in disgust. “You could be useful. Fine. Get behind me,”

Chad did as he was instructed. Audrey returned her attention to the others. In their panic, not one had thought to move away.

The Queen hit her staff against the ground softly and began to sing. The warped version of the birthday song seemed to signal action to the Dragon’s Eye. A light pink smoke rose from the forest floor.

It surrounded the areas of the forest the guests were using and made its way toward the pavilion. Audrey smirked toward the birthday girl as she glanced around in confusion. The rest of the students were already slipping off into an endless sleep.

She summoned the smoke up to take her and her henchman away, before ordering the curse to spread throughout the rest of the kingdom.

That should buy her enough time to plan what came next. After all – she couldn’t very well be a queen if all of her subjects were asleep, now, could she?

He rejected her.

His precious little villain princes had fled. She had abandoned him and their people and still, he rejected her.

A new form of hatred burned in her chest. It seemed, she had finally crossed that little line between love and hate.

“Sleeping is too good for you,” she informed him. She held her scepter up and sent a blast of power toward him. A beast seemed quite fitting for him. Like father, like son.

The king transformed into the hideous creature at her feet. She wrinkled her nose at him and turned toward the window.

“Sleeping is too good for Auradon!”

Yes, but what could be worse?

What was it again that Merryweather had done to the devil bird? Oh, yes – stone.

It was perfect.

Now, the real fun began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First few chapters are just recapping and events from different perspectives.
> 
> Chapters will vary (massively) in length and narrator.


	2. The Heroes' Fall

Auradon was quiet. It was odd to see it so quiet. Auradon was usually so busy and alive. Now it was dead. Or, well, asleep.

Mal was leading the group with Evie at her side. Uma was following them, although a bit unwillingly.

Carlos was chatting with Celia. She was staring up at the school in wonder and Carlos was happily telling her all about Auradon Prep.

Gil was behind those two, looking around in wonder. Harry was next to him, also looking around, but not in wonder. He looked thoroughly unimpressed.

Jay brought up the rear, making sure to keep an eye on the newcomers.

“Wow, everything here is so,” Gil paused, looking for the words.

“Freaky?” Jay supplied.

“Green! Your trees have leave on them,” Gil replied. “And what are those colorful things on the bushes?”

Jay looked at him in confusion. “Flowers?”

Gil lit up. “Flowers re pretty. Ooh.” He waltzed over to a table with two sleeping girls. “Cantaloupe?” He excitedly tilted a bowl up to his mouth and ate the fruit inside.

"Uh,” Jay started.

Uma shot him a look. “We don’t get fresh fruit on the Isle, remember?”

Guilt filled the son of Jafar and he turned back to the blonde. The younger boy shoved some more of the fruit into his mouth.

“Thank you,” he told the sleeping girls.

“They’re grapes,” Jay informed, patting the boy’s arm.

“Grapes,” he mused. “I love grapes.”

Jay was momentarily distracted by Harry taking some of the money from one of the students’ wallet. The two had a small confrontation that the girls made sure was over before it began. Carlos went over to talk to Dude, which caught Gil’s eye. He turned to look at the dog and Jay’s gaze followed him.

“Dude, do you know what happened here?”

“Audrey showed up and put everyone to sleep. Well, and then she turned –”

“Guys, Hanna’s been turned to stone.” Mal and the others rushed to Evie’s side.

They stared in shocked horror at the daughter of Happy. Well, most of them did. Gil was still mesmerized by Dude and Jay was keeping an eye on him.

“So,” Uma called. “We should search the school while we’re here, right?”

“No. Audrey went for the crown – she’ll probably be heading to Ben’s castle next. We go there,” Mal told her.

Uma scoffed. “Says who?”

“Says me.”

“And that’s supposed to mean something to me?”

“Guys!” Evie interrupted. She glared at both girls. They grumbled, but settled down and started walking, Mal in the lead.

Jay and Gil followed the rest of their group. Jay felt his face heat up a bit when the other boy offered him a small smile. Well, shit.

They reached the king’s castle in less than twenty minutes. It was the most silent trip Jay had ever made anywhere. The tensest one, too.

The moment they were inside, Mal called out for Ben. Her voice was edging on frantic the further into the castle without response they got. Eventually, they reached the floor where his office was.

Gash marks lined the walls.

Jay felt like something was off. Based on Evie and Carlos’s expressions, so did they. Uma’s hand ran along the wall, feeling the marks’ depth. She called their attention.

They acknowledged her for a moment before following Dude into the Hall of Knights. Jay kept a close on Harry, gaze flickering over to Gil every once and a while.

He smirked at the comment the boy made about talking puppies. The smirk quickly fell away as their leaders started to argue again. But all of it took a back seat when the sets of armor came to life, clearly being controlled by Audrey.

They fought together and Jay felt goof working with them as a team. It only took a few minutes before the armor was too out of depth to continue moving to their odd dance moves. (It had been a good call on Mal’s part, he supposed.)

They were congratulating each other and celebrating when their sense seemed to return. They retreated to their opposing sides. Gil’s eye caught Jay’s and the boy smiled again, nodding in acknowledgement. Jay smirked back and returned the gesture.

“Come one guys. You know what we should try? An icebreaker.” Evie tried.

Her plan was quickly boycotted and they moved on to try and find Audrey. Mal agreed to go back to the school and sent the boys to search the woods for Ben. They were to meet at Evie’s in two hours.

The boys wound up playing the icebreaker in the woods.

“I like how you get a kick out of a berry bush.” And how positive he was in general. And his smile.

Harry had interrupted, making fun of Jay playing Tourney.

The two ignored them and moved on to talk about adventures. Jay really hadn’t connected with anyone else with this.

Again, Harry interrupted by making fun of them. He had, however, eaten the berries they were eating. The look on his face was priceless.

Before Jay could make fun of him, Dude called them off to where a somewhat familiar beast was hiding by a tree.

“Is that . . .?”

“Ben?”

The beast roared and swept at them.

Gil ducked behind Jay, blushing when he realized the older boy had seen him. Jay made no comment, willing his cheeks to stay neutral in color.

Jane wound up rescuing them a few moments later, spraying the king with lake water. He returned to normal (mostly) and they made their way to Evie’s house.

Ben led the way, talking with Dude while Harry tried to flirt with Jane and Carlos did his best to stop him. Jay stayed with Gil, answering question after question about Auradon and all the amazing things Uma hadn’t had time to mention. The blond hung on to every word. It was nice.

Too soon, they’d reached Evie’s castle. Ben was ambushed by Mal and Harry by Uma. Jay shot a glance toward Gil before greeting the girls.

Their reunion was short-lived as they remembered what was going on.

“I have to find my mom,” Jane decided.

The rest of the group nodded in agreement. Doug stepped forward. “I’ll go with her.”

“I’d feel better if they had some protection,” Evie interjected.

Doug scoffed. “Hey!”

She just shrugged. Carlos lifted a finger.

“I would also feel better if they had protection.”

“Me too,” Mal chimed in.

“Me too,” Doug admitted. Jane nodded her head in agreement.

There was silence for a second as they all seemed to debate who should go. Gil stepped forward.

“Hey, I’ll go.”

The two were quick to agree. Gil smiled back at the group as they left to look for Fairy Godmother. His eyes caught Jay’s for a moment and the older boy smiled back.

“So, where is Fairy Cottage, then?” Uma asked.

The group’s attention returned to finding Audrey. Ben led them through the woods to where they were sure she was hiding out.

Of course, she wasn’t there. The house was very . . . clean. Not a single sign that anyone had ever been there. It hadn’t deterred them. It had actually seemed to spur them onward.

Up until they actually left the place. Mal slipped. She’d never actually been on board with releasing the rest of the VKs. He felt . . . used.

Betrayed.

He remembered nothing of the argument that followed, too caught off guard and stuck in his thoughts. The last thing he remembered was being surrounded by a light pink smoke.


	3. The Spell

Audrey watched as Mal’s lies came tumbling down around her. It had never been so _pleasing_ to watch someone fail so miserably before. With the other villain kids mostly frozen in stone, it was time to put her plan to work.

She checked over Chad where he was frozen in time. The illusion was nearly flawless. It was like looking in the mirror. Hopefully, Jafar’s scepter would be a believable stand in for Audrey’s and hold them off.

She held her scepter toward him and watched him come to life. He was far more pliable than the armors from the king’s palace. Without complaint, the prince was able to catch Celia easily and Mal quickly came to the girl’s rescue.

Audrey smiled, watching them through the Dragon’s Eye.

She brought her hand up and waved it over the pocket watch. Its face began to turn blue.

“_Hear these words, hear the rhyme_,” she recited.

Mal had turned back into a dragon, as if that would be any use to her. The watch’s color intensified.

“_Heed the hope within my mind.”_

The ember lit up in the dragon’s claw. The watch glowed brighter.

“_Turn the clock__ to when I’ll find_.”

A pink beam of magic faced off with blue. It wouldn’t hold for more than a few seconds – it wasn’t nearly as strong as the Dragon’s Eye. The watch was floating in the air now.

“_What I wish in place and time_.”

On instinct, she slammed the base of her scepter into the floor. It sparked and the watch pulsated, magic flying from it in a wave.

Mal transformed back into herself, staring in confusion on an unconscious Chad. Celia was staring at the boy in horror.

The wave of magic hit them first. A shower of black and pink sparks marked where the three had been. One by one, she watched through her scepter as everyone in Auradon disappeared. It spread beyond the kingdom and the Isle, hitting everyone it could.

She watched as the mermaids in Atlantica and near Neverland floated in the waves as dust. The lions of Pride Rock could not escape what came for them. The fairies fought it with their magic as best they could.

None of them were any match for the magic of the Dragon’s Eye. She watched as each and every prince, princess, and commoner vanished until finally, she dissolved into her own shower of sparks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I was debating about using this spell or not until i realized that it's also a reference, so I decided to use it anyway. Cool, thanks, bye.)


	4. The Past is Back

Uma had seen it coming. She’d reached out for Harry to warn him of the magic – of the energy racing toward them. She hadn’t been quick enough.

The wave of deep purple energy hit them. Harry fell backward before dissolving, Uma only seconds behind her first mate. For an instant, they shared a fearful look. Then, the world around them faded away.

Uma’s eyes flew open in a panic. They were dissolving – dying – ceasing to exist. She had to save Harry. And Gil and the rest. But it had been too late. Right?

Disoriented, the sea witch took in her surroundings. Her defenses immediately shot up. This was her room – the one from back on the Isle. Or it was a pretty good replica.

Cave walls surrounded the alcove where she’d woken. It was a small shelf with just enough room for her to fit. For fifteen years, it had been comfortable, familiar. Now, it felt cramped and foreign.

She slipped from her shelf and around the small hallway. Her cave was just as she’d left it. Pilfered objects and bills stacked up on rock shelves, her small lagoon across the way. Leather bits of outfits stacked on top of each other on the side of the pool.

Her hat sat on its own on a small rock the jutted out of the wall. Whoa. She hadn’t seen that in almost a year. It had been left on the Isle when she’d gone after Ben at cotillion. No one would go find it just to pull some kind of ruse.

She was back on the Isle.

Uma’s guardedness immediately turned into panic. This shouldn’t be possible. How was this possible?

What had that spell done to them?

There was a bang near the entrance to her cave. It sounded like a makeshift knock.

“Uma!” Jay called. “Uma, you in there?”

The girl raced to the door. Jafar’s son stared at her, panic clear on his face. They looked each other up and down, surprise clear on their faces. Neither said anything.

Jay was younger than he’d been just a few minutes ago. He was wearing a familiar yellow and red vest and beanie. It was his signature outfit. As far as Uma knew, he’d abandoned most of the leather for the more comfortable wools and cottons of Auradon’s clothing.

He didn’t need it to interrupt a knife’s path anymore. Hadn’t in almost three years.

“What’s going on?”

Uma shook her head. “I don’t know. I think that Audrey did something. You know that wave that hit us?”

Now, it was Jay’s turn to shake his head. “No, but I do remember the smoke that came out of nowhere.”

“Smoke? Did you turn you to stone?”

The older boy shrugged. “Wouldn’t know if I was stone because I’d be, ya know, stone.”

Uma rolled her eyes. “Does anybody else remember what happened?”

“No, Carlos was completely clueless and so was Evie. I couldn’t find Mal at all, so she might.”

The young witch frowned.

“Why would we remember, but not them?”

Jay shrugged. “Magic is weird like that, I guess.”

She lifted an eyebrow in agreement. The two stood there awkwardly for a bit, unsure what to do. Finally, Jay moved.

“Let’s go see everyone else – try to figure out what the hell’s going on.”

“Sounds good.”

The two cautiously made their way across the Isle. Jay kept a neutral mask on, trying his best not to show just how uncomfortable he was. Uma was better at acting like she’d never left. Her face was fixed in a sneer and she narrowed her eyes at everyone who looked her way.

She’d only been gone for about eight months, but it still felt like she was acting. She wasn’t ‘Shrimpy’ anymore and that felt weird.

They made it to the restaurant without any problems, but immediately ran into one once they'd gotten there.

Gil and Harry leveled a glare toward the son of Jafar, stepping purposefully between him and Uma.

"And what, exactly, are you doing here?" Harry sneered.

Jay brought his hands up in surrender.

"I come as a friend."

The boys scoffed, but Uma called their attention.

"Boys!"

They slunk away from the thief, turning to watch the television that Uma had turned on. Snow White's familiar face beamed out at them.

"Today, the future king of Auradon will be announcing what his first proclamation. Let's go now to the King's hall for the announcement."

The King's Hall was a familiar sight. The couple standing at the head of the hall made Uma feel uneasy. The camera panned over the crowds of princes, princesses, and the rest of Auradon before it landed on Prince Ben.

He was smiling and talking to a girl in a sky-blue dress. Her hair was pulled up high on her head, and it was this that drew the attention of the daughter of Ursula. It had struck her as odd when she'd watched the news just how few of the citizens of Auradon had vibrantly colored hair. On the Isle, it was a symbol of power.

She now understood that it wasn't a matter of power, but of status and tradition. It was not proper to have colored hair on the main land.

The girl that had just been speaking with Ben, though, had bright magenta hair. Indigo and black shown through from the lower layers, making the color seem deeper. It took no effort to recognize the princess.

"Is that . . .?"

"Audrey," Jay confirmed. He was staring at the television in horror.

It was . . . odd. The princess looked nearly the same as when they'd seen her, but she was clearly three years younger. Ben was smiling at her pleasantly and the girl smiled back.

"Who?" Harry asked, bored, but clearly annoyed at being left out.

"Sleeping Beauty's daughter."

The pirate wrinkled his nose at the comment. Uma ignored him; eyes frozen on the screen in front of her. This wasn't something that had happened the first time around. Ben hadn't appeared on television until his coronation.

And, they'd been very careful not to announce the new law to those imprisoned until it had happened.

Evidently, whatever happened had changed more than just their age and Audrey's hair.

The princess stepped away from her boyfriend – and, wow, was that an odd thought – and went to sit with the rest of the crowd. Ben gave her one last smile be turning to face the audience.

"People of Auradon," he called.

Uma wrinkled her nose and watched Jay blink confusedly. He was so much younger than they were used to and it showed. The prince babbled on for a few minutes about how glad he was to be king of them and how amazing they were. Finally, he stopped talking for a moment.

This was his first proclamation. Uma knew what would come next.

"Twenty years ago, every villain In Auradon was sent to live on the Isle of the Lost."

The murmuring from the crowd was so loud that Uma could hear it through the old television set. Ben raised one hand in a semi-practiced gesture of control.

"In the twenty years since, while we've moved on with our lives, so have those villains – and their sidekicks and supporters. There are hundreds of children living on the Isle right now."

The crowd began to hum, clearly anxious for what this information might be leading to.

"I intend to bring the children of the villains over from the Isle. It Is their parents that were sent there as punishment – not them."

Uma stared at the screen, unfeeling. This felt like a wicked sense of déjà vu. Beside her, Jay was tensed and Harry made a soft gasping sound. Gil and the rest of their crew were quietly muttering between themselves.

"But – why?" Jay wondered. Uma lifted an eyebrow. "I mean, clearly Audrey did this to us – brought us back here. Why would she do that just to bring us back over and have everything repeat itself?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry demanded.

"But, it's not the same, is it? You said you couldn't find Mal today. That has to mean Audrey did something to her,” Uma reasoned.

“Who the hell,” Harry sneered, “is Audrey?”

“I told you – Sleeping Beauty’s daughter,” Uma snapped.

Jay tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, but she’s not just a princess. At the moment, she’s one of the most powerful forces of magic on the planet.”

The pirate snorted. “What a load of shit. Can you believe him?”

“No, he’s right. Her spells only weaknesses are Hades’ ember, the lake water, and an act of True Love.”

Harry’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He leaned forward conspiratorially. “And act of True Love? What are we – princesses?”

Uma rolled her eyes and snapped, “Works on everyone, Harry.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Uma saw Jay’s gaze flicker for just a moment. So, she hadn’t been seeing things before. She filed the information away for later.

“Right now, though, that’s not important because we need to piece together what the hell happened and how we’re going to fix it.”

Jay caught her eye. He nodded once, acknowledging her lead.

Everything around her was spookily out of place and familiar all at once. Being in charge, though? It was the first good thing that had happened all day.


	5. Something Old, Something New

When Audrey woke from her spell, she was pleasantly surprised. For a few moments, she’d feared that her memories would be lost to the travel. Everyone else’s would be, after all.

Instead, she woke with a perfect memory in her old bed. She looked three years younger than she had only this morning. Everything had reverted back to how it used to be. Well, except for her hair.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.

“Audrey?” Ben called.

An infatuated grin fell across her face. This is what she’d wanted. Oh, sure, her real goal may be the throne and making her grandmother proud, but she’d missed Ben. He’d really, truly loved her at one point. She’ d always loved him.

“Audrey, are you ready?”

She shook her head. “Yes, almost. Just give me a few more moments.”

The princess finished adjusting the light blue and pink dress she was wearing. She walked toward the door, feeling the unfamiliar weight of a ponytail on her head. Had it really been that long since she’d last had it this way?

Ben knocked on the door. “Is something wrong?”

The worry in his voice made her melt. He _cared_ – about _her_.

She smiled sweetly as she opened the door for him. He looked shocked for a moment before he melted into a smile.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“What did you do with your hair?” He pulled lightly on a loose wave.

She leaned into the feeling. This time, she would not take him for granted. “I thought dying it might be a nice change. What do you think?”

“I think it suits you. Now, I believe we had a breakfast date?”

Audrey allowed him to lead her out of the castle and toward the gazebo in the middle of the gardens. The floor was set up like a picnic and a few baskets of food sat around them.

“I have a confession to make.”

The princess tensed.

“I didn’t just come out here for our date.”

She felt dread welling up in her stomach.

“Oh?”

“Yes.” He popped a blueberry into his mouth. “I’ve decided what my first proclamation will be and I wanted your opinion on it.”

“My opinion? I’m flattered. So,” she asked, leaning forward, “what is it?”


	6. Just a Little Change

Something felt off when Evie woke up. Her head was pounding and she felt like she'd been hit a thousand times over. Mother's voice called her down and she shook her head. Quietly as she could, she snuck out the window.

The Princess of the Isle was painted plainly on the wall across from her. She smiled at the artwork and leapt from the half roof to the streets below.

"Hey, Eve," Carlos greeted. He sent an apple her way. She let the rotten fruit fall to the ground. It squelched against the ground. Evie's face scrunched up.

"Come on – that was a perfectly good apple," he protested.

"Perfectly good?" She gestured to the mush on the floor.

He rolled his eyes and followed her on their way to the Curl Up and Dye. The boutique was quite a bit away and his argument had only just begun. "It's not like It had mold on It! Sure, it was a little squishy, but It wasn't that bad."

Evie just shook her head and booked her way to the shop. Dizzy's music filled the room when they walked in and the girl was dancing around the room, sweeping as she went. A strange sense of déjà vu came over her.

"Ahem," she said.

The girl stopped, turning around. "Evie! You're here!"

Drizella's daughter ran toward the older girl. Behind her, Annalise rolled her eyes. The oldest daughter of Anastasia returned to where she was sorting out the dyes and other supplies. Evie frowned at her.

"Did you hear?"

Evie shared a look with Carlos. He shrugged.

"No. What's going on?"

"The prince – Ben – has just announced his first proclamation. He's going to be bringing us over from the Isle!"

Annalise snorted. "You can't believe that he's actually going to do that, can you?"

Dizzy deflated a little and Evie glared at the other girl. “What do you mean by that?”

“He’s Auradonian –”

“_We’re_ Auradonian,” Carlos pointed out.

“Fine, I guess. But he’s actually from Auradon. He grew up with all of the perks of being from Auradon with being a prince added on to boot. I wouldn’t expect him to actually follow through with his promise.”

Evie rolled her eyes. “Why would he make a proclamation he wasn’t going to follow?”

“So, he looks good? I don’t know – why does anyone from Auradon do anything?”

“Because they’re people with thoughts and feelings just like us.” Evie placed her hand comfortingly on Dizzy’s shoulder. “And maybe they finally realized that we’re just as human as they are.”

The red head laughed. “Not fucking likely.”

Dizzy harrumphed and crossed her arms. She walked out of the shop and into the street.

“Remember to bring her back by midnight, would you?” Annalise asked. Her mouth tilted up in a false smile.

Evie just shook her head and left, Carlos right behind her. They caught up with Dizzy and made their way with her to Doctor Facilier’s Fun Park. Celia was sitting at the front. She immediately stood and let them in, catching Dizzy’s attention and chatting with her happily.

Her eyes lingered on the other two, almost searching for a moment before they returned to her friend. Something about her was . . . off.

Evie ignored it and hurried inside.

She wasn't planning on watching the television in the middle of the square, but the crowd around it drew her interest. A boy wearing a blue suit was on the monitor, addressing the crowd. He looked vaguely familiar.

". . . tomorrow. Then, the next day, these four villain children will be introduced to Auradon Prep and begin their classes."

From the other noise coming from the speakers, whatever this boy was saying wasn't going over well with the crowd behind the camera. His small audience on the Isle remain silently captivated.

"I understand your wariness. That is why we're only going to start with four. If they do well, then we will bring the rest over a few at a time." He cleared his throat. "To begin with: Jay, son of Jafar, Gaston the Third, son of Gaston, Dizzy Tremaine, daughter of Drizella, and Malinoe, daughter of Hades."

The kids around the monitor started chittering to each other. Dizzy was staring at it in shock and Celia in complete disbelief. Then, the younger girl smiled and pulled her friend into a hug.

Evie watched them with a frown. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t know why or how she knew, but she did – something about this was very, very wrong.


	7. Not What I Planned

This was not how it was supposed to go.

Obviously, she wasn’t stupid enough to try and change Ben’s mind. She didn’t want that rift between the two of them. So, she’d supported his decision and told him that she did.

They were going to go about this differently. For one thing, she convinced him to announce it to everyone all at once on the national news channel. For another, she had been able to get him to agree to leave the daughter of Maleficent on the Isle. At least for a little while.

It had also been her suggestion to expand the age range of the kids coming off the Isle, but it seemed like that hadn’t been taken into account. It didn’t really matter to her in the long run, but it seemed to have helped Ben in choosing a new four.

Except he hadn’t chosen four new kids – only two.

Every kid on the Isle had a profile. Before he’d ever gone to his parents about the proclamation, they’d had files. Part of Audrey found that slightly suspicious, but on a whole, she didn’t care.

Anyway, part of their files were pictures of the kids. They were grainy and taken from the barges that went to the Isle, but seemed enough that they’d be able to recognize the kids once they’d gotten to the main land.

And, luckily enough, Audrey recognized the four. The little girl, Dizzy, was new and Audrey only knew her by name and that day in Evie’s garden. She seemed nice enough – for a villain.

Jay was easy to recognize as Audrey knew him fairly well. They’d shared a single class together and had not enjoyed it. She had expected him to be coming to Auradon.

After Jay was Gaston the Third. He’d been with Uma and Mal in the palace. While she knew nothing about him, she’d seen the way he’d held against her knights. If he wanted, he had the potential to be a formidable minion.

The final member of Ben’s little group had been unfamiliar in name. Malinoe. It was an odd name and Audrey hadn’t known that Hades had had a kid. But looking at her picture, the future queen felt something - blood or magic - boiling beneath her skin.

Malinoe _was_ Mal. And she was coming back to Auradon.

Wonderful.


	8. The Ghost of a Memory

Malinoe was good at hiding on the Isle. Dress like the other kids and you won’t get noticed. Dye your hair a normal color and you won’t draw attention. At most, you’d be considered the kid of higher-ranking minion and at least, an unimpressive wanna be.

She’d managed to slip by under the radar for sixteen years. She didn’t have a crew and no one _really_ knew who she was. She was just Hades’ fabled daughter, not an actual person to them all. Except for Celia.

“Mal!” the girl called. “Mal, have you heard?”

Celia’s magenta curls bounced as she came sprinting into the cave. Hades looked up for a moment before returning his attention to the television. The prince’s speech was on replay on the Auradon News channel.

“Don’t call me Mal, Celia,” she snapped. “And, yes, I’ve heard. What of it?”

The younger girl looked confused for a moment. Then, realization spread across her features. “You don’t remember.”

This caught both Malinoe and her father’s attention. The god leaned forward off the couch, burning eyes locked on Celia.

“Remember what, Celia?” he asked suspiciously. “What don’t we remember?”

Malinoe quirked an eyebrow, enjoying watching the girl squirm.

“I can’t – I shouldn’t tell you. But something . . . something is wrong – very wrong.”

Hades stood and Malinoe got closer to her ally. Her discomfort was a growing emotion on her face. A sick sense of pride washed over the demigod at the sight of it.

“What’s wrong? What happened, Celia?” Hades demanded. His voice was like ice – cold and harsh. “What don’t we remember?”

She shook her head. Malinoe frowned.

“I can’t tell you. It could – I don’t know – break the universe. If I knew what would happen, I would tell you, but I don’t know.” Celia scoffed and rolled her eyes. “We could all die.” She turned to leave, but paused for just a moment.

“I just had to make sure you knew about what happened.”

Without waiting for a response, the errand girl fled the cave.

“So, how’re we gonna get her to crack?”

Hades sighed, repositioning himself on his bed. “We’re not. Either she tells us or she doesn’t. We’ll find out either way.”

“But –”

“_We’ll find out either way_,” he repeated. “Now, you should go get ready. You have a big day tomorrow.”

Malinoe snorted. “What?”

“Tomorrow? Auradon?” He waved his hand a few times in the air as if to say ‘you know the rest’.

“I’m sorry, I thought that was a joke. I’m not actually going to Auradon. They hate us.”

“They hate me. They don’t know you yet,” he corrected. “And, this isn’t my fairytale – it’s yours.”

He stopped talking after that. Malinoe didn’t ask any more questions. She knew she wouldn’t get any answers. Instead, she left for her room and to start packing. After all, she was going to Auradon tomorrow.

The others were waiting for her at the Isle’s entrance the next morning. Dizzy was bouncing excitedly, gesturing every which way at one of her siblings or cousins. The red head clearly couldn’t have cared less about the topic.

Jay was standing close to the barrier next to Gaston the Third. He seemed to talking with Shrimpy and Hook, too. Malinoe frowned. That was unusual. There was definitely something going on there.

A few other kids made an arc around them. Most of the parents weren’t here, big surprise. If they didn’t have a kid going, what use was showing up today?

Maleficent stood at the top of the archway on its little balcony. She stared her daughter down, eyes deceptively green. They seemed to glow, despite the lack of magic on the Isle. Malinoe stood her ground glaring back into the dark fairy’s eyes.

She owed this woman – the one abandoned her – nothing. Less than nothing, really. So, whatever it was that Maleficent wanted she could get it from someone else. The half-fairy hoped the message was getting through.

The barrier burst open and a limo glided into a stop in front of them. The crowd flinched back and gasped at the sight. Malinoe didn’t move (and, curiously, neither did Jay – like he was expecting it).

A man in a tailored black uniform exited the car. He stood at attention and hurried to help the kids get their things into the limo. The man didn’t say one word. He shoved their bags in the trunk and then the kids in the back.

If he was an indicative sample of Auradon, maybe they weren’t so different from the Isle, after all.

The four kids sat awkwardly inside the car. It was new environment – one far more lavish than anything they’d ever dreamed of. Odd snacks lined the walls – candies from all of the countries that surrounded and made up Auradon. Dizzy was gently snacking on them while Gaston the Third stuffed his face.

Jay looked at them with a mix of disdain and fondness. She hadn’t been too quick to jump to conclusions before. Something was definitely going on with the boy.

The vehicle started to move slowly. Dizzy yelped in surprise, looking around frantically. Her gaze focused on the moving water out the window, staring in awe.

From her seat Malinoe saw a path form from where it had been broken just outside the barrier. There was a sound of a button clicking and the barrier opened, the car gliding smoothly through. She felt it immediately.

Her mother’s magic and her father’s fire clashed inside her, trying to win her over before they fizzled down. For a fleeting moment, Malinoe saw a burst of a pinkish light. Then it was gone like smoke on the wind.

It felt like a memory. Or the ghost of one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Malinoe is a portmanteau of Mal and Melinoe, the goddess of ghosts and sometimes the daughter of Hades, sometimes of Zeus. Melinoe is also referenced as a nymph, but is always the daughter of Persephone, so I reasoned that she would most likely be the daughter of Hades and used her name for the basis.


	9. Welcome Party

Greeting Day, take two. Wonderful.

If it hadn’t been bad enough the first time, now Audrey knew just what these villain freaks were capable. How they could easily everything you’ve ever done or worked toward.

Everything would be the same. From the weather and temperature to the color of the blooming flowers. The band would play the same song, irritating as it was. Fairy Godmother would stand in the same place, Jane hiding meekly behind her.

Speaking of, maybe Jane did deserve that hair Mal had been so generous to give her the first time around. Maybe Audrey could fix that for her, earn herself an ally for later, when everything went down. Because something – everything – always went down.

Ben would be wearing one of his lighter blue suits like he had been before. Audrey decided she would vary. This twisted déjà vu was odd enough as it was, but to wear the same dress felt grossly wrong. So, she pulled from her newer wardrobe – a simple blue dress with a black jacket to go over it.

Looking in the mirror, a memory of the first time this had happened flashed through her mind. She felt like some kind of warped image with her new clothes and hair, but ultimately the same look. It was freaky.

She loved it.

There was a knock on her door. Ben was here.

Audrey waltzed over to the door and pulled it open. She smiled sweetly at her boyfriend. Her boyfriend – oh she’d missed that word.

“You seem very happy this morning,” he commented.

She let him lead her into the hall and tucked her arm into his. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He did a little half shrug. “Well, you didn’t seem very enthusiastic when I first brought the idea up.”

“I’ve had time to think about that now. You were right – they don’t deserve to be punished for what their parents did. After all, our parents don’t define us, right Beasty Boy?”

Ben grimaced at the old nickname. “Haven’t heard that one in a while.”

“Sorry, Benny Boo.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in amusement. It was nice to make him smile again.

“So, you’re really okay with this?”

No. “Yes, of course.” Never.

“Good,” he replied, nodding. “I’m really glad that you are. My parents – well, they’ve let their past cloud their judgement. They’ve already decided what Gaston’s son will be like.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t entirely sure how he wanted her to respond.

He shrugged, looking defeated.

"Well, we don't want to be late. These kids shouldn't be kept waiting any longer, right?" In all honesty, she thought they should have been waiting for their release until they died, but she's sure that that's not what Ben wanted to hear right now.

He smiled at her and they exited the school. She'd been right about her prediction. The band was playing the same stupid welcoming song they had before. Fairy Godmother was smiling brightly and welcomed them to the courtyard.

"Come, come, you should stand here," she directed. The couple obliged, albeit a bit reluctantly. “Good. They should be here any moment now.”

On cue, the limo from the Isle arrived. The band played impossibly louder. Audrey clenched her jaw. This time, they would not be separated. This time, Maleficent’s daughter would not win.

The car came to a stop and the driver exited. He walked purposefully to the back door and pulled it open. The band stopped playing. Everyone in the crowd was holding their breath.

Audrey felt her skin prickle. Something about this was wrong. She shook the feeling away – now wasn’t the time for that.

A small girl with red hair and glasses stepped out onto the road. She looked around in awe, eyes widening in excitement when her gaze landed on Audrey. The princess followed the girl’s eyes as she scanned first hers then every other outfit she could find.

Oh, right. She’d been Evie’s little protégé. The one that had made her accessories for Cotillion. Maybe she wasn’t as nice as Audrey had thought – not if she was hanging around Mal’s little crew.

With the girl clearly occupied, Audrey instead turned to look at the next villains out of the car.

Jay stood behind Dizzy, looking around. He was more tense, less carefree and rowdy than the first time around. His eyes caught Audrey’s and narrowed. She frowned at him. Something had to have happened to make this version of Jay as different as he was.

The prickling feeling under her skin had intensified.

Breaking eye contact, Jay turned to coax the next person out of the limo. She watched as his hand was batted away.

A boy slowly and cautiously stuck his head out. The boy – one of Uma’s pirates – looked around in fear before his eyes widened. Clambering the rest of the way out, he surveyed the land. He was oddly careful not to look anyone in the eye, but his gaze kept roaming.

After a few seconds, he started to babble to the closest person to him. Jay listened with a small smile as the boy got more and more excited.

Beside her, Ben tensed just a little. Audrey had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. He was the one who’d invited Gaston the Third to Auradon, shouldn’t he have prepared himself to meet the boy?

She lifted the hand that wasn’t linked with her boyfriend's to place on his arm. He relaxed a little and shot her a thankful smile. She smiled right back.

Her smile fell quickly, though.

The daughter of Maleficent – and Hades, apparently – was stepping out of the limo. She looked unimpressed and uncaring. She looked around, surprise flashing across her face briefly before she turned back to face the crowd.

Everyone was staring at them in shock and awe – and a bit of apprehension. Audrey couldn’t help but join them. It felt like she was meeting them all over again. It felt nice.

Fairy Godmother stepped forward and smiled. None of the kids were paying attention to her. She frowned, but continued anyway.

“Welcome to Auradon Prep!” she greeted.

All four villains quickly moved to protect themselves. Gaston the Third reached for something around his waist, confused when he couldn’t find anything. Jay looked ready to fight and pulled Dizzy behind him. Mal shifted into a stance that Audrey had only seen used when the boys sparred with each other.

This time, she allowed herself to roll her eyes.

Jay saw her and frowned again.

Fairy Godmother continued with her speech – Audrey had forgotten how long it was supposed to be. She’d been lucky when the speech had gotten derailed the first time. This time, though, she had no such luck.

“. . . classes. You’ll start them in a few days and we’ll get you all caught up –”

“You do know that we had classes on the Isle, right?” Mal asked. Her tone was relaxed, matching her lazy posture. Only a spark in her eyes and her quirked eyebrow suggested she had any interest in this conversation.

“Oh,” Fairy Godmother replied, clearly unsure how to respond.

Jay stepped forward a bit, looking at the others. “But our classes are way different from the classes here. Probably.”

“Please,” Mal scoffed leveling a short glare at her sidekick. “How different can they be?”

He returned her glare, but didn’t respond. Jay stepped back into the line, huffing.

“Well, we’ll assess your levels and then place you accordingly,” Fairy Godmother amended. “And you can find all the help you need any time you need it. The doors of wisdom are never shut! But the library hours _are_ from eight to eleven and, as you may know, I have a little thing about curfews.”

Smiling, the headmistress left to go do her headmistress things. Now, it was just Audrey, Ben, and the villain kids.

“It’s so good to finally meet you all. I’m Ben,” he greeted, stepping forward.

Lazily, Audrey cut in, “_Prince_ Benjamin – soon to be king.”

He nodded and gestured to her, smiling softly. “This is my girlfriend, Audrey – Princess Audrey,” he corrected himself, “daughter of Aurora.”

Mal’s eyebrows lifted in interest, but she said nothing. The feeling that something was off burned brighter. Audrey did her best to ignore it.

“Hey, I know you. My dad said to tell your mom that he’s still waiting for her and also to tell your dad that he should have finished him off while he had the chance.”

The rest of the group was silent. Jay rubbed a hand across his eyes. He took a step toward the younger boy and patted his shoulder.

“You know, now probably wasn’t the best time for that, bud,” he muttered.

Gaston the Third frowned at the other boy, but stayed silent, pulling his shoulder free with a soft grunt. The group continued with shaking their hands, Ben going through his speech.

“It is so, so good to finally meet you all. This is a momentous occasion. I hope this day will go down in history as the day our two peoples started the healing process.”

“Or the day that you showed four peoples where the bathrooms are,” Mal jabbed back.

Audrey felt bile rise in her throat. She remembered this – the flirting between Mal and Ben. This time, she was going to put a stop to it.

“I think that was probably a little bit much, Benny Boo.”

Mal rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement. “Just a bit more than a little bit.”

“Just think of them like transfers from Arendelle or Agrabah or something. They’re just kids like us, after all.” Audrey shot them a brilliant smile.

Mal regarded her with more focus than she had before. The corner of her mouth flicked up in a half smile.

“Exactly.”

Jay watched the interaction with thinly veiled suspicion.

Dizzy beamed up at Audrey from where she stood at Mal’s side.

“Wow,” the tween gushed. “You’re a real princess! I’ve always wanted to meet a real princess.”

Audrey suddenly felt uncomfortable. She put on her best smile and knelt a little toward the girl. “Well, when you go to your classes, you’ll get to meet a ton of other princes and princesses. And don’t forget that we’re all just like you.”

Mal and Jay scoffed in unison, causing a small stare-off to occur. First glaring and now this? Somethings had certainly changed – drastically.

Ben awkwardly moved to start their tour and Audrey wrapped her arm in his again. He discussed the school’s history as they approached the center of the gardens where King Adam’s statue stood.

The school didn’t look half as old as it was and Audrey enjoyed the looks of surprise on Dizzy and Gaston the Third’s faces. Mal and Jay didn’t look half as impressed as they should have. Not until Ben clapped and his father’s statue morphed.

“My father wanted this to turn from beast to man to remind us all that anything can happen.”

“So, you guys have a lot of magic here in Auradon?” Mal asked as they entered the dorm building. It was the first time an emotion had actually shown on her face. Audrey hated it.

She shrugged and shook her head while Ben answered.

“I guess. I mean, yeah, it exists, but no one really uses it anymore. It’s pretty much retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals.”

This was clearly not the response Mal had been looking for. Her nose wrinkled in disgust and she spat, “Who just happen to be royalty.”

Ben hadn’t noticed her sour mood. “Yeah.”

“That’s true,” Audrey jumped in. “Our royal bloodlines go back hundreds of years, but most of the students aren’t as lucky. Most of them are just like you.”

Was there really any harm with just a little bit of bragging? And to villain kids, of all people?

“Oh.”

“Doug! Come here.” A tall blond boy hurried down the stairs to greet them. “This is Doug. He’ll be showing you to your rooms. If you guys have any questions, you can ask Doug or either of us.”

Ben nodded in farewell before he and Audrey made their leave. They didn’t look back, but could feel the weight of eyes on their backs.

“Hey,” Mal called, “aren’t _you_ supposed to be our tour guides?”

Ben faltered for a step.

“Coronation planning, Ben. I know you want to stay, but we have things to do. Things that can’t be held off any longer.” Oh, they definitely could have.

He relented his agreement, though and continued on with her. Behind them, there was a scoff.

“It’s only been ten minutes and they’re already abandoning us,” Gaston the Third commented softly.

Audrey wasn’t sure how she’d heard it or why, but she did. And something about his voice made a spark of fire light up her veins.

Her magic was right, she decided. It had been trying to warn her all morning and now was the final point it was trying to get across. Something had gone very, very wrong. All she had to do now was find out what that something was.

Easy.


	10. A (Weirdly Specific) Theory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular chapter is . . . not my best.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

It was worse than when Jay wasn’t at Facilier’s with them. It was worse than when Evie had a bad hair day or her makeup was just slightly mussed. It was almost as bad as being trapped in his mother’s fur closet again.

Because Uma – Shrimpy, the little sea captain – was talking to them. It wasn’t her usual veiled insults or flat out threats. No, she was actually being decent to them. Yeah, something was totally wrong.

“What do you want, Shrimp?” Evie demanded. She had her arms crossed and was sitting across from the sea witch.

“Your help, Princess.”

“Princess? Trying to flatter me?”

Uma lifted her brow and gave a little half nod. “If it’ll get you to talk, then I guess I am.”

“It won’t,” Carlos assured her. He exchanged a glance with Evie, relieved to find her giving her agreement.

“So, you’re not going to listen to anything she has to say?” Celia demanded.

Evie rolled her eyes. “Look, Celia, I know she’s your sister, but I don’t trust her. You shouldn’t either.”

Suddenly the little girl was mad.

“She’s saved my life!” she growled. “She’s saved yours too, you’re just too oblivious to remember it.”

Uma held out a hand toward her sister. Her expression had softened to one of sympathy and pity. Carlos had push down his shock.

“Don’t yell at them, Celia. It’s not their fault they can’t remember.”

“But why can we?”

“Because,” a new voice drawled, “of who we are.”

Freddie Facilier was walking up the gangway onto the ship. Her eyes scanned them all with contempt.

No one spoke as the mistress of the shadows waltzed up to them – out of surprise or fear, Carlos couldn’t tell.

“What? Surprised to see me?”

Uma bobbed her head from side to side. “A little. Been a while.”

“Yeah, well, leaving the Isle will do that to you. What’s it been – two years?” she shot back. She pulled a barrel over and sat down on it leaning away from the group, legs crossed neatly.

Carlos narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean ‘leaving the Isle’? Who’s left the Isle?”

“Uma here has. Celia too, I guess, but not as long as Uma had.”

“How do you remember?” Celia asked. She was leaning forward, hungry for any information she could get her hands on.

“I was doing my job – restocking the shops all over the Isle and helping out at Ursula’s.” She shrugged indifferently. “But I had Dad’s pendant with me. For safe keeping, you know?”

“You had Dad’s pendant?”

“You managed to lift Facilier’s pendant off of him?” Uma whistled. “Damn. You’re better than I remember.”

Freddie shrugged again. Carlos scowled. He wasn’t liking the way this story was going and, based off of Evie and Harry’s reactions, neither were they.

“Anyway, I was going back to the park to check on something. The TV was still on with a dozen or so kids watching. No one was talking – obviously – but the cameras had been left rolling.

“It was a bit like a security feed, flipping from camera to camera. Well, it let us all get a good look at this giant burst of pink energy spreading quickly across Auradon. The sleeping people and statues disappeared if they were hit with it.”

“Wait, you guys weren’t hit with the curse?” Celia asked. “I thought it affected everyone.”

“The smoke didn’t make it past the barrier, but this new wave of energy? Yeah, that slid real easy through our little protective shield.

“Everyone started freaking out. The place cleared out _real_ quick as everyone ran to the west end of the Isle. It didn’t help. Eventually, the pink dome hit us all. My world went black when it got me. And then suddenly, I was right back here.”

Freddie uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “I woke up three and a half years in the past. No one else had any memory whatsoever about what had happened. No one except you two.”

Uma nodded. “And Jay.”

“Jay? Jafar’s son?” Harry asked. “Is that why you were talking with him yesterday?”

Evie scoffed. “You can’t believe that any of what they’re saying is true! They’re not even saying anything that makes sense.”

“You talked to Jay?” Carlos asked.

“Technically,” Uma corrected, “he talked with me. He’s the one who went looking for someone else.”

“That’s not what’s important,” Celia insisted. “What’s important is that none of you remember anything.”

Uma made a noise of assent, but Freddie shook her head.

“No, what’s important is that we have two people who remember what happened on the main land. With any luck, they’ll be able to reverse this.”

“Only one, actually.”

The group turned back to Uma once more. God, this was giving Carlos a headache.

“Mal doesn’t remember.”

Evie’s frown deepened. “You mean Malinoe? Hades’ daughter?”

“Whoa. She’s Hades’ kid? Damn, she’s powerful.” Freddie whistled, long and low. “Someone with that kind of power should be able to remember what happened.”

“But she doesn’t. Only the three of us and Jay do.”

“Well,” the youngest interrupted, “Audrey probably does too. And maybe some of the others who were awake – like Jane.”

“Not likely,” Freddie shot her down. “I think the only reason we’re able to remember is because of who we are.”

“So you’ve said,” Carlos snapped. “But that doesn’t explain anything.”

Freddie glared at him. “Maybe if you’d shut up, I could get to the explaining part.”

“Don’t talk to him like that,” Evie barked. It was her queen voice – Carlos was impressed.

The oldest of the Facilier girls bared her teeth and was about to pounce when her twin stopped her.

“Enough! Freddie, explain. We’re getting nowhere just sitting here and arguing. Shit’s going down and we need to _fix _it, not make it worse.”

“Whatever,” she huffed.

Carlos made a face at both twins.

“That means you two have to behave, too.”

“And why should we?” Carlos and Evie demanded. The two then shared an impressed look.

Uma rolled her eyes, showing her agitation for the first time that day. “Because something is wrong and I think we’re going to need your help to fix it. If you won’t do it for me and my crew – or even Auradon – do it for the lives you left behind.”

“What?” Evie’s fist was clenched beneath the table.

Uma took a deep breath in. “You two had lives beyond the Isle. In Auradon. You had your prince, Evie, and you had your princess, Carlos. Not actual royalty, but they may as well be. You. Had. Lives.” When they were both too shocked to respond, she nodded. “Continue, Freddie.”

“As I was saying, we’re the daughters of two highly powerful magic users. A sea witch and a voodoo priest. You two weren’t on the Isle and so I’m guessing the magic protected you while you were in Auradon. The spell still sent you back, but you have your memories.

“I think the spell activated the pendant before it got me entirely and that’s what let me keep my memories. I’m not sure about Jay, though – why he would keep his.”

“His dad was a sorcerer,” Carlos pointed out. He winced at his words, but it was too late to take them back now.

Freddie seemed intrigued by this information. “Really? Jafar was a sorcerer? That crazy old bat was a sorcerer powerful enough to keep a spell’s full effects at bay?”

Evie and Carlos glared at her and Celia gave her an annoyed stare. She lifted her hands in surrender.

“Fine, fine. So, Mister Sorcerer gets to keep his memory, but the princess of the underworld doesn’t? Yeah, I don’t buy it.”

“I do.” Uma shrugged.

“You . . . do?” Harry asked. “Why? It makes no fucking sense.”

Carlos jumped. Damn. He’d forgotten the pirate was sitting there. Harry smirked at him and winked, suddenly much more confident than he’d been a few seconds ago.

Uma ignored the interaction and nodded. “Audrey hates Mal more than anyone else in the world. She blames Mal for ruining her life – which still isn’t all that bad, by the way. But with all that hatred directed at the girl, it kind of makes sense to me that Mal wouldn’t be able to remember – not if she was hit with more magic than the rest of us.”

“And was she?”

Uma thought about it. Carlos and the others watched her intently.

It was silent for a few minutes while the sea witch ran through her memories. Finally, she nodded.

“She fought a decoy right before the spell hit. I watched her get blasted quite a few times with spells from Jafar’s staff. If her body was trying to heal any damage caused by that, being blindsided by this time travel spell may have been too much for her magic to completely deflect. I mean, it still changed some things about her.”

“Yeah, like when did she start living with Hades?” Celia asked. “And since when was her name Malinoe?”

“Wait? You guys call Malinoe ‘Mal’? She’s going to kill you if she hears you,” Evie hissed, looking around.

The three girls rolled their eyes with Harry joining in.

“She’s in Auradon right now, Princess,” Freddie informed her. “She can’t get us.”

“Besides, you’re her friends,” Uma reasoned.

Celia nodded. “Yeah, you could just vouch for us.”

“Friends?” Carlos asked. “What are you talking about?”

“Malinoe has never – _never_ – spoken to us outside of needing something from us or running into each other. Literally. We’re not friends.”

The sisters exchanged looks.

“Whatever’s going on is seriously messing with Mal’s life. What kind of spell did the pretty pink princess cast anyway?”

Uma shook her head. “We don’t know.”

“Well, whatever it is – we need to reverse it. Big magic like this?” Freddie looked around the circle of enemies. “It doesn’t always last forever. Audrey is powerful, but not a natural magician – so this probably won’t last. And I’m sure none of you want it to come crashing down on us. Because I’m fairly certain that not a single person in all of Auradon and the surrounding kingdoms could survive.”

Evie latched on to her friend’s hand under the table and she squeezed. Carlos gulped, suddenly very afraid.


	11. Keeping a Secret

It was not easy to figure out what had gone wrong. In fact, it was the opposite.

“It shouldn’t be this hard,” Audrey muttered to herself, skimming Maleficent’s spell book. “It’s just magic. You’d think it would work.”

“What would work?”

Audrey jumped. She turned around to see Ben smiling at her from her doorway.

“Nothing important, just something in my schedule. Did you need something?” she asked, smiling wide.

He laughed shortly. “Do I need a reason to visit you? You know you _are_ my girlfriend, right?”

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and turned the rest of her body toward him. Subtly, she shut the book and knocked it onto her floor. There was a soft thump that made her wince a little, but she was still fairly confident Ben hadn’t heard.

“I do know that. It’s one of things I’m grateful for every day.”

Her voice had softened a bit. She really meant what she was saying and she needed Ben to know that.

“I’m really happy that I’m your girlfriend.”

“But,” Ben prompted.

“No. Not but – _and_. I’m glad to be your girlfriend _and _I know just how much you have to do and how hard you have to work. I know that you don’t always have time for me.” She shrugged. “I guess I was just surprised that you were able to stop by.”

He looked down, guilt clouding his eyes. God, why did she have to say that? Now he was going to feel bad and be less focused on his job.

But before she could say anything, he started talking.

“I know I haven’t had much time to spend with you with all the coronation stuff going on lately.”

“And that’s totally fine,” she reassured.

He smiled at her. “Yeah, you’ve told me. But I want to make it up to you. So, I’ve cleared my afternoon and we’re spending it together.”

Audrey felt butterflies well up in her stomach. How long had it been since she’d been excited about something? She couldn’t remember.

“Really?” Ben nodded. “That’s wonderful.”

She shot off her bed and wrapped him in a hug. Laughing in surprise, he hugged her back.

“Okay, so did you have anything planned?” she asked, pulling back.

He frowned. “Oh. I hadn’t thought about that part.”

“No big deal. We can just hang out here.”

She led him over to the couch and they sat. For a few minutes, they were silent. Huh. She’d forgotten how to hang out with him.

“How’s the coronation coming along?” she asked.

He nodded quickly. “Pretty good. We’ve gotten most of the correspondence back from the other kingdoms and royal families.” He smiled. “All that’s left to do is arrange seating for everyone.”

“Oh? And I’m guessing you want my help with that?”

He laughed. “Sure. It would mean more time with my wonderful girlfriend.”

Oh, she liked the sound of that.

“But that’s only if you want to.”

“I’d love to,” she replied, leaning toward him and tapping his nose gently. He laughed and smiled at her.

“Good. Hey, what’s that?”

Audrey followed Ben’s gaze, smile faltering. “Nothing, just a book for History of Auradon.”

He frowned. “Didn’t you take that last year?”

He stood and walked over to the book.

“No. I took History of Atlantica last year.”

“Audrey this is a spell book.” He studied the image on the cover. “This is _Maleficent’s_ spell book. How did you get this? Why do you have this?”

She’d never seen Ben mad before. Hurt? Yes. Defensive? Hell yes. But mad? Truly enraged? Never.

He was a gentle and level headed as his mother had been.

Now, though, his elusive anger was starting to bleed through. There was a beastly rage behind his words and a new kind of fire in his eyes.

“Audrey. Why do you have this?” he growled.

She just smiled sadly. “_Take back this moment that has passed_._ Reverse it, return it, memory lapsed_.”

“What –”

A small shower of pink and blue sparkles interrupted him, bursting from Audrey's out stretched hand. His eyes rolled back in his head as they landed on his head. Audrey caught him before he fell on the floor.

“You know I really didn’t want to have to do that. Not to you, Benny Bear.”

His unconscious body didn’t respond, but she wasn’t expecting it to.

Carefully, she laid him down and positioned him in a somewhat natural position.

“It’s a shame you fell asleep while we were watching TV,” she sing-songed. “Poor Prince Ben, too tired to stay awake for more than five minutes once he gets a break. Isn’t that right, darling?”

She spun to smile proudly at him. He let out a soft huff. She tilted her head to the side in a bit of sympathy.

“If you’re not careful, this could become a regular thing. And we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?”


	12. A Whole New World

When he’d woken up three days ago, everything had been wrong. He hadn’t had time to figure out anything about what was going on before he’d been whisked off to Auradon – again.

Luckily for him – if anything was lucky in this situation – he’d figured out some of what happened. At least, what the differences between how things had been the first time and how they were now.

The new memories had rushed him when he crossed the border again.

He was in charge of a gang on the Isle. Evie was his second in command. There were about half a dozen kids they kept in their ranks – far more than Mal had ever partnered with.

They still hated Uma. He still thought the sea witch was too small to be in their gang. _He _nicknamed her Shrimpy. She’d gone out and built her own crew like she had before.

That would explain why they’d been so suspicious when the two had shown up together. And why Gil resisted any attempts at friendliness.

Jay buried his head in his pillow as more and more memories from this version of his life showed up. God, he felt so stupid. Of course he would make one of the few people he was even remotely close with feel awkward and weird.

Not to mention Mal. Because she was something else entirely. This wasn’t his Mal. She didn’t even go by Mal.

Malinoe was a demigoddess, a daughter of the Underworld. The ‘lost’ daughter of Hades – the one no one had really acknowledged until her name had been announced on the news broadcast. Up until then, she’d stayed mostly hidden and a loner.

How she managed to survive on the Isle would remain a mystery for Jay.

He’d known plenty of lone scavengers growing up. None of them were alive now, even in this weird version of reality. Mal – _Malinoe_ – was extremely lucky.

He racked his brain for any memory of his friend. Only a few instances came to mind. He only saw her when she sought him out, but never casually on the streets or in an alley. She’d blended in so well. Even if he had seen her though, her hair wouldn’t have been purple or even blue.

He’d spent a whole day with her and still wasn’t even remotely used to her new, pitch black hair. Gods, it was even weirder than when she dyed her hair blonde.

He screamed into his pillow. This was too weird. He wanted his old life back. He wanted his friends – his family. His Auradon.

Jay jumped as someone knocked on his door. He tried to roll onto his back and landed on the floor instead. The knocking became more insistent.

“Coming,” he called.

Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet. The knocking became faster and heavier against the doors.

Jay shook his head. Honestly, what do these Auradonian kids not understand about privacy?

“Coming!” he yelled again. He huffed, walking to the door. He pulled the door open as hard as he could. “What do – Jane?”

The young fairy smiled at him. Her terrified expression melted into a relieved one when she heard him say her name.

“Jay? You remember too?”

He nodded, too surprised to speak.

“Good. We need to fix this.”

Jay scoffed. “Yeah, I got that. How do we do that?”

She rolled her eyes.

“You do realize that there are thousands of books on magic in Auradon, right?”

“Magic is outlawed still, Jane.”

The fairy rolled her eyes again and huffed at him. She crossed her arms. “Not everywhere it’s not.”

Jay took another step forward, but the half-fairy shook her head. She pushed him back into the room and, for the first time, he noticed the bag with her. Jane closed the door behind her.

“My mother’s wand may be in a museum, but her books she preferred to keep in the safest place she knew for them – our house.” She emptied her bag onto his bed. A half dozen books came spilling out. “Safe from everyone but me.”

“You . . . stole these from your mom?”

“Yes.” She sounded offended.

He held his hands up in surrender before he leaned down to pick up one of the books.

“So, what are we looking for?”

Jane shrugged. “A spell,” she said. “One that can be used to travel through time – or to turn time back.”

“What’s the difference?”

“We don’t have the time to go into that right now. Just – look for spells involving time.”

Jay frowned, but nodded and did as she said, opening the book in his hands.

The two spent the next few hours reading through book after book. Their pile of useless information was growing while the stack of helpful information remained bleakly nonexistent.

After about four hours, an idea hit Jay.

“Hey, Jane,” he started, “Audrey only used the scepter – Maleficent’s scepter, right?”

Jane thought about it for a moment before answering, “Yeah. I think so.”

“So, that runs on dark magic, not light like your mother’s wand.”

“Yeah, I guess. But magic is magic. The scepter might be inherently better at performing dark spells, but that doesn’t mean that light magic spells won’t work either.”

Jay nodded. “No, I get that, but I’m just saying that Audrey probably wasn’t studying up on, you know, light magic time travel. She wanted something she could use for her revenge. Most of the time, that’s dark magic.”

Jane stared at him; eyes wide. She slammed her book shut and stood.

“We need to go.”

“Whoa, whoa. What?”

Jay gently closed his own book and followed her slowly to the door. She started to speak rapidly, leading him into the hallway.

“There are no dark magic books in Auradon. Well, there was Maleficent’s spell book, but Mal gave that up and it was with the scepter. So, if Mal and Maleficent don’t have it – the only other person who might is Audrey.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t explain anything.”

They were walking down the hallway quickly, doing their best not to break into a full run.

“Maleficent wasn’t just any fairy. Did you ever notice that she was much bigger and almost more powerful than any other fairy in the stories?”

Jay titled his head to the side in a half nod. Honestly, he’d never really cared to listen to the stories very much. Didn’t matter to him _how_ you got to the Isle, just that you were on it.

“They called her the Dark Fairy, Jay. Most think that she’s unusually evil and scheming, but that’s because they’ve forgotten how fairies used to be. Titania and Oberon – the longest reigning fairy king and queen – were cruel. They killed without remorse and had human followers give them sacrifices in exchange for protection. Actual sacrifices – animals and humans, alike.

“Their tricks and cunning were known all around the world at one point. It’s a common thing, even now, that you don’t walk into a fairy ring because who knows what they will do to you. Fairies aren’t inherently evil and most that lean too far toward mischief and wickedness are cast out of the community or imprisoned.”

Jane hadn’t stopped her rant by the time they arrived at the parking lot. Jay was getting very uncomfortable with where this was going.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Instead of going to a car, she spun around.

“Jay, Maleficent is the daughter of Titania and Oberon. She is over a thousand years old and uses spells that are no longer in popular use. My mother isn’t that old yet and doesn’t need wicked spells or trickery, so she doesn’t keep spell books like that around. Only ones that help people.”

“Get to the point,” Jay urged.

Jane huffed. “Maleficent is a fairy and uses old fairy magic. Where do you think we might be able to find replicas of her spells?”

He frowned, thinking about it.

“Where there are other, older fairies?” he guessed.

“_Yes_. Older fairies with older spells. And to find those fairies – like the ones that hid Aurora away – we need to go to the Enchanted Forest.”

“Like the one by the lake? Where Fairy Cottage is?”

Jane hung her head and turned away, finally leading him to one of the more compact cars in the lot. She muttered something under her breath and the car unlocked itself.

“You drive.”

He followed her direction and slid into the driver’s seat. His companion quickly got in the passenger seat, but she motioned for him not to move yet.

“We’re going to the real Enchanted Forest. The one outside of Auradon. The Fairy Cottage that Audrey was hiding at was just a very good replica. The actual Enchanted Forest and the Moors beside it have many, many more creatures and not all are friendly.”

She leveled him with a look. It was odd to see such a serious expression on a fourteen-year-old.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

He snorted and smirked down at her. “Not really sure I ‘ve got a choice now, do I?”

Jane shook her head. “Not really, no.”

“What are we waiting for?”

They started the car and Jay sped off the school’s grounds. He had no clue where he was going. He’d only understood about half of what Jane had said, but he was going along with it anyway.

This place, this altered Auradon felt _wrong_. His _memories _felt wrong. And he needed to fix it.

Even if that meant going to a place where magical creatures that he’d never encountered roamed freely. Even if that meant acknowledging a part of himself that he’d never wanted to acknowledge before.

Because it had been three days, but he knew he needed his life back. So here he was, heading for a whole new world. And he’d never been more terrified.


	13. Bad, Bad News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you celebrate, Happy Hanukkah and Happy/Merry Christmas.

“Ben? What’s going on?”

The prince looked frazzled. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair stuck up like he’d been running his fingers through it. It was not a good look on him.

“Audrey, something’s wrong.”

Her heart sank. Oh no. Was he remembering what happened yesterday – or even before that?

“One of the villain kids is missing.”

Audrey felt a sense of relief flood through her before his words registered.

“_What?_” she hissed. “How did they – who was – _what_?”

Ben nodded, looking even more stressed than he’d been before. He started pacing on the carpet between her vanity and bed. She wrinkled her nose at him, but said nothing.

“Yeah. I went to their rooms to see if they needed anything and Jay wasn’t in his and Gil’s room. Gil said he hadn’t seen him all evening. There were books all around his room, too.”

“Books?” Audrey cocked an eyebrow. What did books have to do with any of this?

“Spell books,” Ben clarified. “There were dozens of spell books all over the room. Every single book came from Fairy Godmother’s collection.”

She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. No one had access to Fairy Godmother’s collection except for Fairy Godmother. Well, and Jane, but she didn’t have much, if any, magical talent. She had no need for the books.

But, then again, who else would steal the books? This wasn't the same girl from her time - a goody-goody and far more confident than she'd been before the villains had come to Auradon. This Jane was the same Jane that had stolen her mother's wand at the coronation - that had allowed a villain to use magic on her the second day she'd been in Auradon.

"Why would Jay have spell books?" she asked him. "I mean, it's not like he can use them.”

Ben shook his head, looking worried. “He can though. His dad is Jafar, remember?”

She narrowed her eyes, not understanding where he was going with this.

“Jafar was a sorcerer – and he used to be a genie.”

Audrey felt like she’d been blindsided. Jay had never, _ever_ given any inclination that he also had magic. But, then again, neither had Evie and her mother was a witch.

“But how did he get the books?”

Ben shrugged. “I don’t know – I’m going to talk to Fairy Godmother about it.”

She nodded – that was a really good idea. She stood and pulled on a pair of flats. “I’ll come with.”

“Audrey, this isn’t something you can come with me for.”

Audrey scoffed, “Of course it is.”

“No,” Ben protested, “it’s not. It’s a matter between the king and his advisor and as much as I wish you could go, you’re not queen yet.” He gave her an apologetic smile.

She didn’t complain again as he left her behind. Yes, it was annoying, but she had ways to remedy that. What she really wanted to focus on was that ‘yet’. Ben planned on making her his queen – he loved her enough to stay by her side for as long as they were alive.

All she needed to do was make sure that they stayed that way. And to do that, she had to find out what they were doing in their search for Jay.

She waved her hand at her door, watching it swing shut. Standing, she waved her other hand at the windows. The curtains pulled together, making the room far darker than it had been.

Audrey pulled her spell book from the vanity drawer. Its magic hummed in greeting and the scepter responded. The small pendant around her neck glowed and grew larger as she removed it.

“Show me a spell,” she started, “that will let me become something else.”

The book’s pages turned quickly, the Dragon’s Eye searching for what its mistress asked. It took a few moments, but the turning finally stopped, opened halfway through the book.

“A shape shifting spell,” she read. “Perfect.”

The spell was actually more of a potion. Audrey frowned down at it, trying to figure out how long it would take for her to make it. Only about an hour or so.

Ben had a minor head start on her, but the king’s castle – where this meeting was no doubt going to take place – was still a half an hour walk on foot. And, if this was a meeting between king and advisors, they’d have to wait for the reigning king and a few more advisors to get there. Not to mention none of them knew a thing about how magic worked.

So, yes, she probably had the time to gather and make the spell.

A purple pulse of light emitted from the magic jewel. She smiled. Time to get to work.


	14. One Kiss

Uma groaned as she was woken by someone shaking her.

Harry grinned down at her. “Hiya.” She closed her eyes again.

“This better be important,” she told him. He scoffed, offended.

“When have I ever woken you for something unimportant?”

“_Harry_ . . .”

“Alright, alright. It’s the barrier.”

Uma sat up; eyes wide. “What?”

“Come see.”

He led her up onto the top deck. She saw him point, but ignored it. Her eyes were glued to the space where she knew the barrier was.

It was a magic barrier – placed there by Fairy Godmother’s wand. It didn’t need to be seen to be impenetrable. Most days, it was a clear film. On bad days, it was a translucent blue or gray.

Now, though, it was slightly opaquer, turning dark gray.

It made Uma’s skin crawl. She grabbed Harry’s arm and pulled him with her. They needed to get their plan thought of and put it into action. Now.

“What are you –”

“We need to find the others and get off this island.”

He scoffed, but followed her anyway.

Freddie and Celia met them as they were leaving the wharf. It looked like her sisters were coming to get her. Now all they had to do was get the final two members of their little team. Or, try to, anyway.

“Go to the Fish and Chips – I’ll bring the others.”

Harry groaned. “Do they ‘ave ta come? I mean – do we really need ‘em?”

Uma glared at him, but didn’t bother to answer.

She left Freddie and Celia with her first mate and went to collect the remaining members of the Core Four. The two were, predictably, unhappy to see her. She had a long day ahead of her.

“Yer drunk,” Harry crooned. He giggled into her ear.

Uma pushed him away, but didn’t deny it. She swayed back and forth to the song in her head. The image of a boy king being pushed along a plank was vibrant in her mind. What would that have accomplished? To have killed the king would have been . . . pointless.

Especially with how that timeline had spanned.

She wondered if there was a timeline where Mal had given her the real wand. And another where she’d succeeded in killing Ben. Or where she took after her father. Or didn’t exist at all.

She downed her glass of ale and poured herself another.

“Whoa,” Harry exclaimed. He was grinning lazily at her from across the table. “Yer sure goin’ ‘eavy tonight.”

“Harry,” she growled.

He laughed and winked at her, spinning away to go flirt with one of the patrons.

Beside her, Evie groaned. “You should really tell him.”

The blue haired princess leaned against her companion. Uma embraced it, leaning back into Evie.

“Tell him what?” she asked.

She really didn’t think she’d like the answer.

“That you _lo-ove_ him,” Evie sang. She burst into giggles, falling forward.

Uma shook her head, taking another sip of her ale. She grimaced – this was a pretty strong batch. Harry flashed his own drunken grin at her from across the room. She downed the rest of her glass.

Evie finally pulled herself together and continued talking, “Don’t worry so much.” She hiccupped. “He loves you too.”

The young witch stared after Harry as he danced around, uncaring who he hit or ran into. He was a drunken mess on the dance floor, but kept grinning widely at everyone.

The blue haired princess sighed and smiled. “I wish someone would look at me like that.” She sighed again.

“Alright,” Carlos interrupted, “that’s enough for you.”

He grabbed the drink out of his friend’s hand. She let him, still watching everyone in the dance floor. She started humming under her breath.

Uma shook her head, staring at Harry in consideration. Normally, she’d dismiss the thoughts Evie was planting in her head, but now . . . now her logical thoughts were being shoved aside by the alcohol.

Evie’s humming grew louder. Uma stiffened.

She knew that song.

_One kiss, one kiss. It all comes down to this_.

The one arguably nonmagical thing that could break the scepter’s spells was true love’s kiss. And, if Freddie was right, this spell wasn’t all powerful. She wasn’t affected by the spell – not in the same ways. She could break the spell over someone else. Probably.

If it’s true love.

Uma finished off the pint in her hand. She should really slow down.

_One kiss, one kiss. This moment could be it._

She suddenly felt dizzy. Her mind was running in circles. These were dangerous thoughts – especially on the Isle. Lust was fine – encourage, in fact – but love? Love was a big red ‘X’.

“So, I get one?”

Uma frowned, turning back to the princess. “What?”

“I get a prince? A happy ending?” Evie asked, although it was more along the lines of begging.

“Yeah. I mean, you look happy.”

She nodded. “And my prince?”

Uma shrugged and answered, “I mean, he’s not an actual prince, but that doesn’t seem to matter to you.”

“It’s doesn’t?”

“Nah. He’s your true love, so, I guess that was more important.”

“My true love?”

Stop asking questions. “Yeah, and that’s all I know,” Uma snapped. She stood, suddenly angry.

The occupants grew quiet as they turned to look at her.

She glared at the room at large before turning and leaving. As she did, she caught a glimpse of Evie and Carlos, hurt and confused. Guilt pinged inside her and she tried to push it away. She stalked out of the diner.

“Uma! Wait.”

A hand grabbed hers and pulled her back a little.

“Let me go, Harry,” she growled.

He tried to spin her around. She let him.

“No. What ‘appened? I thought they were gonna be our allies?”

His eyes were probing, serious but his mouth was set in a confident smile. Her eyes hovered over his mouth.

_One kiss, one kiss_.

She shouldn’t do it. She really, really shouldn’t.

_It all comes down to this_.

He was her first mate – her best friend. Nothing more. If it hadn’t happened by the time they were eighteen, it certainly hadn’t now that they were fifteen again.

_I wanna know._

This was a really bad idea. Truly, exceptionally awful.

_So here I go_.

Uma used the hand that he was holding her with to pull Harry forward.

“What –”

She cut him off, placing her lips carefully on his. It was only for a second, but it would be enough to work. She pulled away, anxious.

“What was that?” Harry asked.

He was staring at Uma, eye gleaming proudly, but a bit out of focus.

She felt sick. “You still don’t remember?”

“Why would I?” He lifted an eyebrow.

Uma felt something inside her break. It hadn’t worked.


	15. Listen With Your Heart

Audrey had never really thought about flying. It was like magic – a bit of history that had become nothing more than an afterthought. Sure, some people showed more interest in it than others, but Audrey wasn’t one of them.

Now, though, she wished she had been.

There was something intoxicating about the feeling of wind on her arms. Or wings, as it were.

She swept through the air, letting the breeze guide her. Everything looked so much smaller – so much more insignificant. She would have to finish exploring the kingdom after the meeting. It had probably already started with all the time she’d wasted.

Audrey moved herself from gliding to flying with purpose. Her feathers cut through the air, making her feel oddly powerful.

As she approached the window, she was confronted with another problem. The window.

Unlike other birds, Audrey could see the glass pain in the frame, but she also knew she would be unable to get through it. Well, she could always try, but she wasn’t a fan of the idea of glass shards on the floor.

She landed on the window sill and got as close to the window as possible. The glass was locked firmly in place. And, unfortunately, that meant that she couldn’t hear inside the meeting.

Audrey frowned. Or, well, she would have if her face had let her.

For a few moments, she sat, watching the scene inside. Her eyes did their best to interpret the soundless words being formed, but it was no use. The princess had never been good at reading lips when she was younger – why would that change now?

Surely, there was some kind of spell to help with this?

Audrey thought through everything in the book. It took a moment for anything to come to mind.

And unlocking spell. That would work on the window.

She ran through the words in her head.

_Barrier window made of glass. Open up, let me pass._

The window swung inward just as a sudden gust of wind blew by. Audrey used the momentum to quickly glide under Fairy Godmother’s desk.

“What was that?”

Ben shook his head. “Just the wind.”

“Maybe,” Fairy Godmother mused. “But, back to what I was saying. Why do you think Jane would do this? It isn’t like her.”

“I don’t know. Jafar could do magic – can Jay?”

Fairy Godmother didn’t respond for a few seconds. “I’m not sure. There’s no way to tell from the Isle. He hadn’t shown any proficiency for it while he was here –”

“But,” Ben interrupted, “he wasn’t even here for a day. Maybe he just hid it from us.”

Audrey had a feeling that that wasn’t the case.

“Maybe.”

“Why would Jane help him?”

Silence. Neither of them knew. Surely, Fairy Godmother wasn’t blind to how her daughter felt. The resentment of helicopter parenting and lack of freedom Jane had felt was more than obvious in the original timeline.

“I think . . . I think I may have been a little too harsh on her.”

No, really?

There was a slight shuffling sound, which Audrey interpreted as Ben nodding in – no doubt reluctant – agreement.

“But that still doesn’t explain why she would help Jay,” he pointed out.

“Or what he wants from her.”

Audrey felt more startled than she should have. She hadn’t had a chance to look around the room when she’d flown in and the occupants hadn’t been her priority. She hadn’t realized that King Adam was in the room.

“Why Jane specifically?” Queen Belle asked. “There are hundreds of kinds at the school that would be far more likely to help him – why would he go after Jane?”

For a few moments, the room was silent. Audrey felt oddly competent. These were the people who ran her kingdom? No wonder they were so willing to give the crown over to a villain’s daughter.

“Magic.” Ben’s voice was scarily loud in the silent space. “He went after her because of her magic.”

“But Jane doesn’t have Magic,” Fairy Godmother protested.

“But Jay doesn’t – or didn’t – know that. She gave him the books, right?”

“Yes,” King Beast confirmed, “but every single book was left in his and Gil’s room. We’ve already gone through and checked.”

Ben huffed impatiently. “Where would you need to go to find more information on magic? Information that not even Fairy Godmother would have. About magic a sorcerer can use.” He paused. “He’d probably be looking for strong magic – something to break the barrier.”

Audrey didn’t listen to the rest of the pitiful conversation. She knew what she had to do and where she had to go.


	16. A Teeny Dent, a Tiny Crack

Evie was kind and caring – she always had been. But she’d also grown up on the Isle of the Lost. She was selfish and hard skinned when she needed to be. The little princess knew how to protect herself.

So, she didn’t trust the others. Even though she agreed to work with Uma and her sisters, she didn’t trust them. Or believe their little story and theories. Freddie seemed so sure that what she was spewing was the truth and her sisters fell for it with the same confidence. Evie was not so easily convinced.

The only thing that she believed was the rapid opacity of the magical barrier. She could press her hand against it firmly and see the mark her skin left. It didn’t push her back like she was expecting.

Evie pressed the barrier more firmly.

There was a light creaking sound. Evie pulled her hand back as if she’d been burned. She looked around, hoping it hadn’t come from the barrier.

No one else was near her. This was a lower part of the Isle. People were careful to avoid it for fear of being swallowed by an incoming tide. She wouldn’t be interrupted any time soon.

She placed her palm back against the barrier. It was warm to the touch.

She shoved against the barrier as hard as she could. There was a snapping sound and the barest hint of a crack appeared. Evie took in a sharp breath.

Whatever was happening to the barrier was something powerful. And it would probably get worse. If they were going to do something, they needed to do it soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short this week, sorry.


	17. Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Audrey had never thought about how big Auradon was. It had never really mattered before now. She would get in the carriage or car or whatever the mode of transportation happened to be and a few hours later, she'd be at her desired destination.

Sure, they all had to learn the geography of the kingdom in school, but it had never really struck her just how long a mile was. And now she had to traverse over nearly two hundred of them without being seen? Ridiculous.

In theory, she knew how to get to the Enchanted Forest. But that was also on roads. And from the passenger's perspective. So, despite what she thought, she did not know how to get to the Enchanted Forest.

It was ridiculous.

She thought she'd known where she was going. Now though, she'd been walking through the Auradon Forest for a few hours and felt like she was going in circles. She should have come out the other side of the forest by now.

"Great, now I'm lost," she huffed. She continued on her path, but finally pulled out the tool she'd warily placed in her bag.

After this morning, she had flown to the Enchanted Lake and transformed back into herself. Her knees had given out as soon as she'd stood up. The wave of exhaustion that had washed over her left her half catatonic in the pavilion. She'd sat there for a few minutes, waiting for some strength to return to her.

Something was calling her toward the lake.

As soon as she'd felt able to move, Audrey had pulled herself toward the waters. Without thinking, she'd lowered herself into the shallow pool. Relief had swept over her. She'd sagged against the base of the pavilion and let the waters soak into her clothes.

The magic in the water had made her feel better, but not to the point that she felt like using her magic again. She wasn't even sure how she'd gotten the powers, but she wasn't going to risk giving them up.

now it seemed like she wouldn't really have a choice.

Audrey huffed and flipped the pages of her book. "Tracking spell, tracking spell, aha!"

The sorceress cleared her throat, "Ahem. _Lost and confused, unsure where to go, the path I seek, now to me show_." She scoffed. "No wonder no one practices magic – these spells are ridiculous."

A golden pair of footprints speared in the grass before the princess. She frowned down at them. Hesitantly, she placed one foot on one of the golden footprints. It disappeared and another showed up in front of it.

She put her other foot on the other footprint. It did the same thing.

With a bit more confidence, she continued to follow the footprints. They stayed with her and increased in speed as she did. She could feel the magic pulling at her and slowed down, trying to let herself replenish.

The magic still pulled at her relentlessly. Her energy was depleting rapidly and night was falling. Audrey picked up the pace. She would go as far as the magic allowed or until the sun was gone. Whichever came first.

Darkness surrounded her as the sun finally dipped over the horizon a few moment later. Audrey huffed, annoyed that she hadn’t gotten further than where she was. She stopped walking and looked around her for a place to set up for the night.

The princess had never been much of a fan of camping. Allie had convinced her to go camping on their trip in Wonderland. It had not been fun. She'd been back home before the clock had struck midnight.

For a moment, she wondered if finding the two missing kids was even worth it. The thought was immediately dismissed. A voice whispered everything they could take form her if they were left alone.

Audrey huffed. She would just have to suffer through the camping tonight. Or keep walking.

Her magic pulled at something in her core, a harsh reminder why continuing wasn't an option. She took a few steps more, looking for a place to lay down. After a few steps, the pulling disappeared and the golden footprints vanished in a puff of golden smoke.

Audrey gasped at the sudden influx of energy. It was like a rubber band had snapped, sending all of her depleted energy rushing back through her veins. Her skin buzzed with the raw power.

The Dragon's Eye flashed on her wrist and the princess hissed at its sudden heat.

"What happened?"

She said the spell again. Nothing happened. Again and again, she repeated her spell, but nothing worked. She pulled her bracelet off and watched as it expanded back into its true form. Her staff was glowing bright purple.

She thrust it downward and commanded a path to appear.

A golden outline of footprints appeared. Audrey followed it for nearly a hundred feet. Instead of draining her, she felt suddenly more awake. Everything was more vibrant.

Quickly, she ran along the path, the footsteps glowing brighter with every step she took. She was afraid that if she stopped, so would her magic.

She didn't know how long she followed the footsteps before they stopped. It was the dead of night, but Audrey wasn't half as tired as she had been when she'd started her expedition.

Confused, she stared at the place her footsteps had been.

She hadn't realized how much light the images had been giving off until her eyes were suddenly thrust into darkness. Her eyes adjusted until she recognized a path at her feet. Immediately, she scanned her surroundings.

She was still in the woods. Why was there a path in the middle of the woods?

In her hand, the staff jerked forward, pulling her with it. Complying, she followed where the path led, a dozen spells ready on her tongue for whatever was waiting for her.

Which was, as it turned out, a very familiar house. Cottage, actually.

Audrey had always known that the cottage in the Auradon Forest wasn’t the actual college her mother had stayed in. (That cottage was far too close to Auradon to be the actual forest.) However, she had always been told it was a replica of the real deal.

It wasn’t. It was a bit bigger than the one by the Lake and definitely had less upkeep. Vines and bushes covered everything around it. The cottage almost looked like it was made of the plants – especially with how they carefully avoided covering the window panes and door.

The princess stared at the house with an odd sense of awe.

This was felt almost dreamlike. Unreal.

The door opened and light flooded out of the house. A shadow fell across the opening – a perfect silhouette against the light of the house.

Audrey’s fight or flight response kicked up and she prepared herself to flee, a spell resting on the tip of her tongue, just in case it was needed.

“Hello, Audrey,” the voice greeted. The tone was a flat neutral. A girl walked forward, eyes almost glowing in the soft moonlight. “We need to talk.”


	18. The Missing Piece

“Oh, isn’t this wonderful?” Dizzy squealed. She spun in a circle before turning back to Malinoe. Her eyes were sparkling with a joy that had never really been in supple on the Isle. The sight almost made Malinoe wasn’t to smile.

“It’s just like everywhere else,” Malinoe shot back, instead. “The Isle, Auradon, Atlantica, any other place that exists. They’re all the same.”

She pointed up, “Sky.” Then down, “Ground.” She spread her hands wide and eyed the younger girl, “And everything in between. Let’s just face it, Diz, Auradon is just as boring as the Isle was.”

The girl frowned and folded her arms across her chest. “That’s not true. Auradon is _wa-ay_ better than the Isle.”

For some reason, that hurt.

“Really? How?” Malinoe scoffed. “The blinding sunlight? Or everyone’s perkiness? Or the fact that everything everyone says is totally fake?”

Dizzy huffed at the older girl. “That’s the same as the Isle, sure, but here, they have _fresh food_ and _candy_!”

Malinoe gave her an unimpressed look. The girl continued on and on about how Auradon was so much more wonderful than the Isle, but her companion tuned her out. Instead, the teen spent her time scanning over the landscape of their new ‘home’.

The school was a fucking castle. It had towers and guards and everything. Other than their _oh-so-wonderful_ hosts, they had yet to meet any princes or princesses. Malinoe wasn’t looking forward to the day that would change. She didn’t handle Audrey well for the few minutes the princess had been around. She didn’t think she’d be able to stomach all of the other princesses.

So, to hopefully postpone that inevitable nightmare, the two of them had gone out to explore the rest of the capital. They were strolling down the street, Dizzy looking around in wonder, Malinoe ignoring all of it.

Dizzy suddenly squealed. In less than a second, Malinoe had pulled out her knife and was shoving the young girl behind her protectively. The demigod swung her gaze from left to right, looking for the danger.

“Mal! What are you doing?” Dizzy asked.

She walked back around her protector despite the other girl’s attempts otherwise. Her face was bright red in embarrassment, but she was smiling.

Realizing that there was no danger, Malinoe shifted back into a more relaxed stance. She quickly sheathed her knife.

“Don’t call me Mal,” she admonished. “Why did you squeal?”

Sighing, the tween grabbed her companion’s arm and pointed toward a small storefront. “That’s why.”

Malinoe followed the girl's finger to a sign that had, _Anita's Designer Nails_ emblazoned on it. A nail salon?

"That's why you screamed?"

"Yep," she replied, happily nodding up and down.

"Dizzy," Malinoe began, slowly, "you do remember that we had nail polish on the Isle, right? You used to get paid to put it on people."

It really wasn't that big of a deal.

"Yes, but this is fresh nail polish! And full bottles too!"

Evidently, Malinoe's words had done nothing to dissuade the young red head. The younger girl continued on her way toward the storefront. Her companion reluctantly followed.

The demigod shot a look down the street at the other shops. On the far corner, a bright white metal caught her eye. She squinted at the oddly familiar silhouette of what the sign boasted were the 'best scooters in Auradon'.

An image flashed through Malinoe's mind. A bright purple scooter bouncing roughly on the waves of the ocean. The vision – memory? – was bathed in pink as if she were seeing it through a lens.

It vanished from her mind as soon as it had appeared. A pink puff of smoke in her mind.

A bell jingled as the two entered the shop. There were a few women sitting in the chairs and a few more workers walking around. One of the patrons seemed relatively familiar, but Malinoe didn't have the opportunity to figure out why as a worker walked over to them.

The salon was nearly dead silent.

"We're closed," she snapped.

Malinoe huffed in annoyance. "You don't look closed." She gestured at the women at their stations.

Their eyes were blown wide in fear.

The worker faltered.

"After seven, we’re appointment only," one of her colleagues yelled. It came out as more of a squeak.

A cold feeling ran up Malinoe’s spine.

"Oh," Dizzy said. "Well, we'll come back later then."

The younger girl exited. Malinoe hesitated.

"For a country that prides itself on doing good, you're really not good at it."

There were a few gasps of outrage, but the demigod didn't wait to see what they would throw back at her. Dizzy was waiting anxiously for her on the street. She latched onto the older girl's arm as soon as the door slammed.

"What did you say?"

"Hmm?"

"What did you tell them? You said something – I saw you."

Carefully, the two crossed the road. A few more of the citizens of Auradon were out and staring at them in cautious horror. Malinoe did her best to turn a blind eye to them.

Turning to Dizzy, she replied, "I just told them the truth. That's what we're supposed to do in Auradon, right?"

Dizzy frowned, but didn't push it, just nodding reluctantly.

"Hey! Did you hear?"

Both villain kids jumped. Gaston the Third – Gil – had run up to them from the direction of the school.

"A little warning next time!"

"Sorry," he replied. His expression didn't match the sincerity in his voice. "But did you hear?"

"No, what?" Dizzy asked.

"Jay's missing. So is a girl named Jane. Oh! And some guy named Chad."

Malinoe frowned. "What happened?"

"That's the thing – they don't know." He sounded far more excited about this than he should be.

"Mal . . . are _we_ going to go missing?" Dizzy whispered.

Gil looked confused by her question. "Why would we go missing?"

"What if . . . what if it wasn't an accident?" She looked around, making sure no one was listening. “Do you think it was an accident? Mal?”

An odd harshness fell over Malinoe's shoulders and chest. She didn't even bother correcting her name.

"I won't let them take you or Gil or me. We grew up on the Isle, remember? We can totally take them when they come for us. If they come for us," she corrected.

Dizzy nodded, but didn't seem to be all that reassured.

"Now, come on, we missed dinner, but _someone_ told me that Auradon has some pretty great food – much better than what the Isle has to offer."

The three changed their course toward the dining hall. It felt like a cloud was hovering over them and Malinoe felt her magic churn within her.

Jay was missing. It was only their second day in Auradon, so it couldn't be a coincidence or misunderstanding.

Jay wasn't stupid enough to go wandering around without an escort and get himself lost. That meant that he was actually missing. Not just lost somewhere or hiding in a cove. Missing.

It was a common enough experience on the Isle. A kid from a rival faction or a parent's rival would go missing. It was almost always a kidnapping. Sometimes the bodies were found and sometimes they weren't. If you we're really lucky, you might even come back alive. Scarred beyond belief, but alive all the same.

Malinoe had never had to worry about that. People were too afraid of Hades to cross him and she wasn't part of any of the gangs. It seemed that Dizzy was in the same boat – or a similar one, at least. Protection under the Evil Princess and the Djinn was probably enough to keep her safe if her own blood connections weren't.

Here though, those protections were gone. No one cared if your father was a god or sorcerer. Their parents were kings and queens and that was infinitely more terrifying.


	19. I Won't Give In

Audrey raised her staff so the gem pointed at the girl’s face. She watched with satisfaction as the girl flinched backward and lifted her hands in surrender.

“I don’t want to fight, Audrey. I just want to talk.”

“Then talk,” the princess instructed.

“What you’re doing – what you’ve done – isn’t safe. This spell of yours could get us all killed.”

The gem on the end of her staff began to glow, responding to Audrey’s anger. “And what do you know about what I’ve done?”

“More than you.”

The girl’s voice was soft. Her eyes glinted with fear and fury, but she didn’t back down.

A part of Audrey flared up in admiration.

The girl took a step forward. Audrey felt magic well up inside of her. The gem glowed brighter and Audrey thrust it forward.

A jet of magenta energy met a much smaller burst of green energy.

Before the two, a scene came to life. It was Audrey, wearing her queen’s cloak and crown. Her hair was purple and pink with layers of blue underneath instead of the black accents she had here.

“What is this?” the princess asked.

“You from the future.” A beat of silence before, “No, not the future, the other timeline.”

The other Audrey waved her hand over a familiar watch. Her counterpart looked on in bafflement. The image began the chant, keeping her own eyes on the Dragon’s Eye warily.

As the watch pulsated and magic flooded through the image, the foggy display dissipated. Behind it, the girl was pacing. Her eyes moved from the fog to meet Audrey’s and they stayed there.

“‘Turn the clock’. Those are the words you said. You’d had your staff for a day, maybe two, and were so drunk on power that you went in all the way. You didn’t bother studying any of the magic or reading into the words any more than what was needed for the spell right in front of you.”

She stopped pacing.

“That was a big mistake. Tell me, _Princess_ Audrey, what possessed you to think you could change the fate of the world by _turning back the world itself_?”

The emphasis on her title wasn’t lost on the Princess, but she couldn’t decide what it meant. Who did this girl think she was, to be speaking in such a manner to royalty?

“How else was I supposed to do it?”

The girl pinched the bridge of her nose. “You do not move everyone through time – you _cannot_ do that. Not a single person or fairy on the planet has that much power in their _bloodline_, let alone in just themselves.”

The Dragon’s Eye glowed. Anger seemed to run off it in waves, but the girl paid it no mind, suddenly brave.

“Your creation – a new timeline, pocket dimension, who knows – will collapse eventually. You didn’t have the magic to back it up and the world realizes it. Not to mention you mixed two spells together.”

Audrey had heard enough.

“Listen, I know what I’m doing and this has the power to perform any spell I wish.” She brandished the staff like a glorified baton. The Dragon’s Eye shone proudly atop it’s warped perch, daring the girl to fight back.

The smallest bit of timidity that had been left in the girl vanished.

“No, while that _may_ increase your prowess, it does not. You’re lucky that you didn’t get yourself killed in the backfire.”

A hum from the Dragon’s Eye made the girl backup a few steps. She waved her hand in an arc above her head and a green bubble surrounded her. Her focus returned to the princess.

“You tried to turn back time instead of moving through it. The world doesn’t want to cooperate with you, so it didn’t, not really.” The girl stepped forward again. “You’ve created a parallel dimension. It feels as if it were four years ago for you, but the design of this reality is different. The spell created the world you wanted to see. It altered the apparent past of almost everyone in and out of Auradon.”

Audrey felt a sense of unjustified pride well inside her. If the way the girl spoke was any indication, what she’d done was a tricky bit of magic. To have accomplished it so well made her feel powerful and quite proud of herself.

“You’re going to kill us all,” the girl hissed.

“And how would you know that?” Audrey stepped closer to the girl, confidence surging through her and making the Dragon’s Eye light up. The smaller girl shrunk back, fear slowly spreading across her face. “If this had happened before, none of us would be here. You can’t possibly know that this would kill us.”

“You can’t possibly know it won’t.”

Her argument seemed sound, but all conviction had fled the girl’s tone. Her protective bubble flickered and dimmed. Audrey felt an odd sense of pride.

It had been a while sense she’d felt this . . . feared. Respected. Powerful.

“What is your name?”

The girl seemed taken aback. “My-my name?”

“Yes. Your name – the word people use to get your attention,” Audrey snapped back.

The bubble flickered again. “Aderyn.”

“Aderyn,” Audrey tested the word. It was vaguely familiar and something told her she should remember it, but she couldn’t quite place it. She stared at the girl in silence, trying to remember if she’d ever seen her before.

The girl – Aderyn – took this to be a signal that she could keep talking.

“I know everything looks fine now, but we don’t know what the consequences of this spell could be. It’s been theorized that –”

“Thanks for your concern, _Aderyn_, but I do know what I’m doing. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have done it to begin with.”

“Audrey –”

“Buh-bye now.”

Audrey thrust her arm forward and let the power of her staff flow through her. Purple sparks swirled through the air, crushing the orb Aderyn had built around herself. For a few moments, the girl stretched out her hands in an attempt to keep her form. It looked like it was working too, before the bubble became brittle and shattered.

Smirking, the princess pressed forward. The shower of sparks fell around the girl and when they faded, a stone statue was in her place. Audrey stepped up to her creation.

“Well, at least you tried,” she whispered. “It was a good attempt. But better witches than you have failed.”

She patted the other girl’s cheek twice. A small crack appeared where her hand had been and the princess made a face. “That’ll be unfortunate when you wake up. If you wake up.” She shrugged. “Oh well, what’s a war without a few casualties.”

Moving forward again, now toward the house, Audrey felt a sudden exhaustion overcome her. She frowned as the Dragon’s Eye flickered, going dormant. Looking at the stars, she sighed. Dawn was fast approaching and she _did_ need time to recharge.

A small rest until the sun rose wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.


	20. Didn't See it There Before

It wasn’t until the morning after their little pity party that Carlos remembered why he hadn’t deigned to have more than one drink. Well, before last night, at least.

Hangovers are a bitch.

He groaned and sat up, rubbing at his forehead. A brief image of Jay doing some similar motions from his last binge fluttered through his mind. Carlos mentally made a note that no, Jay wasn’t being too dramatic.

The headache blossoming behind his eye wasn’t going to help him. Especially if he wanted to find out what was going on with the barrier today – why was it graying and what did it mean? – like he’d planned. And that would mean they wouldn’t be able to fix it.

His headache was suddenly twice as intense.

Concentrating, he did his best to remember the night before. He’d had plans to go through some old books Jay had stolen from and for his father. Of course, the brew being what it was and as strong as it was, that hadn’t happened. Not effectively, at least. He couldn’t remember much of what happened after he’d gotten a second drink.

He had the vague impression of turning pages, but not of what they said.

For a moment, another image appeared in his mind.

It was cold, still night time. But it was brighter than the Isle had ever been. A girl in a periwinkle blue dress was smiling at him. Water sloshed around them, swirling around his calves.

His head spun violently and he pitched to the side.

The image vanished.

Carlos fell forward, nausea welling up. How much had he had to drink last night? Now he was seeing things?

Where had his mind gotten that image from? Who was the girl?

The more he tried to think about it, the worse he felt. He made a retching sound and halted his train of thought. Maybe now wasn’t the time to try and figure this out. Slowly, the nausea faded and the headache lessened to a dull throb.

Exhaustion flooded through him and his thoughts became slow and foggy. Laying back down, Carlos closed his eyes. A nap probably wouldn’t hurt him, right?

_A flash of pink lights up the garden._

Carlos.

_Pink and blue smoke rolls along the floor, a sickening melody fills the air. People drop one by one._

Carlos.

_Another flash of pink. And then, nothing._

Carlos.

_A green mist flows across his field of vision, gaining speed. A single speck in the blackness._

Carlos!

_He’s looking up at the dome. A brilliant blue vapor is sitting atop the Isle’s barrier. The grey obscures it, making the blue a sickly shade_.

“Carlos!”

The boy quickly moved to sit up. Evie’s hand caught his shoulder and held him up, warily. She stared at him with a wide, worried gaze, washing away the last of his hangover.

(It was an odd, small blessing, but he didn’t dare question it.)

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Evie shook her head, unable to answer. The worry dissipated and now, disbelieving fear was clear in her expression. “It’s the barrier – something else is happening to it.”

Carlos slipped out of bed and made to follow his friend. If any remnants of the alcohol in his system had plans to bother him, they would surely have been scared off at his sudden forced focus.

The barrier dome had always been clearer than glass. It was supposed to be invisible in everything but the general aura and feeling once one got close to the barrier.

Most of the time – truthfully, all the time up until yesterday – it _was_ invisible. It _did_ emit a signal of some sort that repelled those who deigned to touch it and discouraged those getting closer to it. Carlos, along with most of the Isle, had been content with the mysteries of the barrier. Trapped in a magical, invisible cage was certainly better than dead and well they knew it.

But yesterday – yesterday had changed things.

The barrier had been visible. Not in the way glass was distorted and visible, though not opaque like the thrown-out plastics littered throughout Auradon’s trash. It was more like looking through a glass bottle. Heavy, smokey color, but still translucent enough. Barely.

From the light cloudy grey, it had descended to a near charcoal color at the base of the barrier. It also seemed more brittle.

Evie led him to a clear area and pressed against the magical field. The move was practiced and Carlos had the feeling that she’d done this more than a few times. It cracked. The fissure spider-webbed out, but didn’t break through – not yet, at least.

“If it keeps up like this, by nightfall, it’ll shatter with a flick,” Carlos predicted.

“It’s not that bad,” Evie defended. She sounded unconvinced. “It’s still made of magic.”

Ahh. Magic.

The two knew virtually nothing about magic. But they had allies who did.

“We need to talk to Shri-Uma. And her sisters.”

The princess nodded her agreement and began to make a path back to Carlos and his mother’s house. Carlos reluctantly followed.

Something about this felt off.

Neither the princess nor her favorite subject noticed the blue fog sitting right at the very top of the barrier dome.


	21. As the Crow Flies

Audrey woke as the sun rose above the tress. She will the protective orb of magic around her to dissipate. She floated down the few feet in the air where she’d sat, meditating, through the night. Her magic was replenished and coursing through her veins. She felt as if she were on fire and she was loving every single second.

Her gaze drifted to the statue that had been a girl only twelve hours before.

“Such a shame you chose to defy me.” The burn on her palm flared to life. “You’d have made such a great minion.”

Audrey clicked her tongue in a chastising manner. She turned her back to the statue and looked around. She couldn’t be sure what direction she’d been going before the encounter with the witch.

Raising the Dragon’s Eye, she recited, “Heart of magic, ever deep, guide the way to what I seek.”

The staff and gem pulsed a brilliant blue. More sets of the same golden footprints led around the west side of the girl’s small cottage. They pulsed in alternating patterns and Audrey was briefly reminded of the Will o’the Wisps Queen Merida spoke of.

She stared after the path for a few moments before she moved. Instead of walking forward, she slammed the base of her staff into the ground and let a smoke cloud envelop her. When the smoke dissipated, a gleaming ebony crow was in her place.

She was a bit put off. She’d been hoping to become a dragon – like Maleficent or Mal – or at least an eagle or hawk. A bird of prey, not . . . this. At the very least, she was larger than the sparrow she’d been only the day before.

The Dragon’s Eye, now a small stone around one of her legs, hummed at her discontent. It burned brightly but did not help grant her wish.

Realizing the gem would be no help, the princess reluctantly took wing. She was careful to follow the golden footprints as best she could.

It didn’t take too long before she found her way back to the main road. From there, she was able to keep on her way from what little memory she had of the road. The magic keeping her in this form was alight under her skin. It buzzed pleasantly, filling her with energy.

Audrey took few breaks throughout the day, but they were always in the trees along her route. The outer edges of the Auradon Forest were calm. Few cars or carriages followed these roads to get to the Enchanted Forest.

It was nearly two in the afternoon by the time she saw the tell-tale signs of one forest fading into the other. The trees became bigger and more colorful. Flowers sprouted from the branches and dotted the sides of the increasingly smaller roadways.

She dove toward one of the farthest trees of the Auradon Forest. This next part would have to be done in person. Her targets were nearly a full day ahead of her, but they didn’t know about her. Well, not entirely, at the very least.

Moving from the branch to the ground, Audrey willed herself human. This time the transition was smoother than the transition down had been. Black feathers dotted the neckline of her dress.

She stood in a clear patch of dirt. Ever the picture of grace and beauty she surveyed the land. Her staff glowed in a perfectly, beautifully menacing way. Audrey readjusted her grasp on the staff and stepped forward into the Enchanted Forest.


	22. Tranquil as a Forest

“_The Enchanted Forest_,” Jay read. They passed the sign quickly, but Jay kept his focus on it in his mirror. “The Enchanted Forest has a roadside.”

“Yes,” Jane agreed. “So do the Moors – and almost every kingdom or town in and out of Auradon. There are some places you don’t want to accidentally wind up.”

Jay looked over at his companion. “So, the Enchanted Forest is part of Auradon, right? Because I thought Auradon wasn’t big on magic and, well, ‘Enchanted’ Forest. How does that work?”

“Eyes on the road Jay.” She paused, waiting for him to comply. “No, the Enchanted Forest has never been considered part of Auradon. Mainly because the fairies had no desire to be included in an alliance of mainly non-magical kingdoms. That’s also why the Moors aren’t part of Auradon either. So, the lands were left to the fairies and left out of Auradon.”

“Huh.”

They drove along the smaller roads for a few more minutes before Jane motioned him to stop.

“We’re here.”

Jay hit the brakes – although perhaps a bit too hard. He looked out the window, unimpressed and confused.

“There’s nothing here . . .”

“There’s a forest, isn’t there?”

Jane opened her door and climbed out.

“You can pull the car over if you want – or I can.”

The half-sorcerer was quick to get out of the vehicle. Jane lifted her hands and frowned in concentration. Slowly, the car moved over until it was mostly on the grass just off the road. The tires sunk into the soft soil.

“Alright,” she said, clapping her hands. “Let’s do this.”

Jay nodded, still not entirely sure what ‘this’ would be.

The farther along in their mission they’d gotten, the more uncomfortable Jay began to feel. It was like there was something in the air. He could feel it buzzing along his skin, making his hair stand up. He wasn’t a fan of the feeling.

“Can you calm down a bit please? Because I can feel that you’re nervous so I’m getting nervous and I’m already pretty nervous anyway and –”

She stopped suddenly, gasping for breath.

Jay placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

“Been a while since that’s happened, huh?”

Jane nodded. “I haven’t felt this anxious in years – not this consistently.”

“I guess time travel just does that to you.”

Good God. When had his life gotten weird enough for that to be a sentence?

“Can you not mention that?” Jane winced. “Come on, there should be a path around here somewhere.”

The fairy led her friend forward, further into the Forest. From the outside it had seemed just like any other stretch of woods. Stepping in, everything changed.

The feeling along Jay’s skin was suddenly ten times worse. Something filled the air and called to him on the wind. He could hear every branch and every animal, but at the same time he heard nothing but the wind.

It should have felt overwhelming. For a second, it was before it all just disappeared, fading out into a peaceful background. His senses calmed and his hairs laid flat again.

“Whoa,” he muttered.

Jane nodded in agreement. “It’s weird the first time you enter the Enchanted Forest.”

“Why? What _is_ that?”

“Magic.”

Jay paused mid-step. “_That’s_ magic?”

His companion leveled him with an unimpressed look. It felt out of place on such a young face – especially given it was Jane’s face.

“Jay, it’s called the Enchanted Forest for a reason. Everything in it had magic flowing through it.”

“Oh. That . . . makes sense.” He rubbed his neck sheepishly.

Jane snorted. She started to make her way through the Forest again, expecting Jay to follow. He didn’t disappoint.

“It’s weird for normal people because the magic of the Forest isn’t something they have to deal with. From how I’ve heard it described, it’s just a persistently uncomfortable feeling while you’re in the Forest, like sand stuck in your clothes. They don’t have magic and the Forest can sense it.”

Jay nodded along like he understood what she was talking about. He didn’t – not really.

“Well, then there are people like us. When we’re here, the magic of the Forest syncs up with the magic in our blood. It’s like a caffeine high on steroids.”

“I don’t have magic in my blood.”

“Yes, you do. Your father was a genie when he was sentenced to life on the Isle. Unlike sorcery, the powers of the djinn are genetic. But, being born only half djinn and born on an island without magic, you aren’t confined to the cuffs like others.”

Jay stopped. “So, what does that mean?”

“I have no idea. This is all conjecture. But, based on the fact that you’re still comfortable enough to walk through the Forest without getting sick – yeah, I’d say you have some djinn in your blood.” Jane shrugged. “I shouldn’t have said anything – we can’t figure this out right now.”

Jay nodded, head swimming. They continued on their journey and Jay made a mental note that they shouldn’t stop.

For a few minutes, they seemed to just be wandering and Jay feared they were lost. He stepped forward, falling in step with Jane, ready to ask if she actually knew where they going. Before he could ask, the ground beneath his feet shifted.

Where before there’d been the undergrowth of the forest, there was now a clear path. The dirt and leaves had given way to cement colored stones. The stones were laid evenly with the ground, fresh and undisturbed.

“Was this path always here?”

Jane shook her head. “No.”

“Should we follow it?”

“I don’t think we have much of a choice. I’ve heard rumors about this path, but I’ve never needed to use it. Whether or not we want to take it, the path is going to follow us, always appear underneath the next step.”

Jay stared at her. “What?”

“Just watch.”

The fairy took a step off the path. By the time her foot hit the ground, it was no longer dirt, but another set of the same stones. The stones on the new path she’d made were a dull red while the others remained grey. Jay followed the new path with his eyes until it disappeared behind the trees.

Jane stepped back onto the path. The red bricks stayed where they were, although they dimmed a little. She began walking, confident that her companion would follow her.

“The Enchanted Forest isn’t what the stories say, is it?”

“It’s a realm of fairies, Jay. Auradon has been fairly anti-magic since it formed and even Queen Aurora wasn’t exposed to much when she lived here. But, even if she had seen much, it’s changed since then.

“With so many kingdoms joining in on that anti-magic mentality, more and more fairies, genies, and sorcerers fled to the Enchanted Forest. It’s become a hotspot for all kinds of magic, growing in the same ways the magic does.”

“Awesome,” Jay breathed. “But that still doesn’t explain the path or road or whatever this is.”

He gestured vaguely down at the bricks passing beneath their feet. A curious glance back revealed the forest floor that had disappeared when the path had shown up. The more he stared, the longer the path would stay – right up until he blinked. Then it would vanish without a trace.

“Echoes,” Jane answered.

It wasn’t much in the way of an explanation, but she seemed to be content with her answer. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to elaborate, Jay cleared his throat. He didn’t like the way the Enchanted Forest made him feel or the weird amalgamation of Jane thirteen and seventeen-year-old selves. Didn’t like how she was vague and would switch back and forth between her selves.

“Echoes of what, exactly?”

She shrugged. “All kinds of things, really. Protection spells and guiding charms.”

“Oh . . . kay. So, if this is an – an echo of a guiding charm, where is it leading us?”

“I’m not sure. It could lead anywhere, but from what I’ve been told, it takes us where we need to go.”

“From what you’ve heard?”

Jane sighed in frustration.

“You’re being really cryptic, you know that?”

“This is magic – it doesn’t follow any rule but its own. It’s not cut and dry and sometimes things happen that shouldn’t or something works one time but not another. All of this could be a rumor, but it’s unavoidable. I know this is all new to you, but it’s also partially all new to me. But you’re completely clueless – like, even more so than I was, which is really something because magic was kept for me for the first few years of my life.

“But, you’re the son of Jafar, telling you about magic should have been one of the first things they did. Don’t they know how bad accidental magic can wind up? I can’t tell you –”

“Jane,” Jay interrupted, “breathe. You don’t have to say everything at once. I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

“You know, it’s all really . . . complicated, I guess. Most people don’t bother coming to the Forest, so they don’t really care about all of this. The people in here all grew up with magic surrounding them – they don’t need this explained and they can’t explain it. Which makes things a little harder for people like you and me.”

“’People like you and me’? What does that mean?”

Jane shook her head and bounced a little as she walked. “You know, people like us – those with magic who know virtually nothing about it.” She shrugged.

Jay huffed softly. For the umpteenth time in the last three days – had it really only been three days? – he felt like he was being overwhelmed. His old memories had been in near constant struggle with the new, slightly clearer memories, the struggle being brought to the forefront of his mind.

“I know you said you don’t know anything about this, but, when we get home, will you tell me more about the Enchanted Forest?”

He shot a hopeful smile at his companion. She smiled back shyly and nodded.

Both returned their gaze to the path before them, a solemn resolve washing over them. In the silence, what they were doing weighed heavily on them. Jay hadn’t thought about what their mission might entail – hadn’t allowed himself.

They’d lost to Audrey before. When his friends had faced up against her knights, they’d won, but only just and it had involved magic that he had no experience with or even access to. There was no way they’d be able to defeat Audrey as they were. They needed some serious magic to fight the sorceress. Or some kind of miracle.

And Jay wasn’t entirely sure they’d get one.


	23. A Prize for Rotten Judgement

The feeling of unlimited, unrestrained magic that swept over Audrey was almost overwhelming. The warm, golden feeling felt like it was drowning her.

If she had thought that the Dragon’s Eye had given her power, it was nothing compared to the basic nature of the Enchanted Forest. She’d never felt power like this before.

She no longer felt magic flowing _through _her – now, it was her. Her limbs burned a pure energy and her head felt impossibly light. It felt like she was flying, but at the same time she was rooted in place. From her fingertips stretched a field of power – one that she had domain over.

“Whoa,” she breathed. Why had she never been here before? If this is how the Enchanted Forest made everyone feel, it was no wonder that the people who lived here never left.

The energy gave way to euphoria for a moment before it faded. It was nothing that she’d ever felt before and the thought roused anger in her. How had she visited the Forest for years and never felt this? It was maddening.

The Dragon’s Eye roared to life in her hand. Audrey could feel heat rolling off it in waves as it pulsed rhythmically.

“So, this . . . is the Enchanted Forest. It looks just like any other forest,” she mused.

The Dragon’s Eye buzzed sharply, almost in protest. It was all the push Audrey needed to return to her plan. After all, what use was the power of the Forest if all she was going to do was marvel in its power?

She pulled a familiar compact from her pocket. The little girl in her was delighted for this part of the plan. She’d wanted to do this every time she’d heard the story when she was younger.

“Magic mirror, small and plain, show me: where are Jay and Jane?”

The mirror’s surface blurred with blue-grey smoke before it cleared. It began to zoom in on a map of Auradon, rushing through the many kingdoms until it had passed the borders and moved toward the Enchanted Forest. When it stopped on two figures on a beige path, presumably the live feed of the two.

Audrey had seen the sign along the road as the mirror had zoomed in. At least she knew them well enough to know where they were going. With no one to turn to for help, it wasn’t much of a stretch.

“Magic mirror, truest friend, show me how to get to them.”

The image again changed, this time leading Audrey through the Forest with a map. She followed obediently. After a few paces, Audrey felt the ground beneath her shift.

The soft moss and grasses were gone and the branches of the bushes no longer caught on her skirt. She looked down to find a brick path similar to what she’d seen Jay and Jane on in the mirror. She smiled.

Even the Forest sought to help her. At the rate things were going, Audrey could be back home to Ben by tomorrow afternoon. Maybe.

She couldn’t wait.

But she would have to, unfortunately.

The mirror and road seemed to have a different idea of who the ‘them’ Audrey had asked for was. She was not taken to Jane and Jay. As noon approached and the sun climbed higher into the sky, she was taken to the last place she wanted to be – a place neither Jay nor Jane were stupid enough to go to.

Fairy Cottage.

It looked fairly similar to the replica in Auradon Forest. Audrey had been too young to remember the differences between the real Fairy Cottage and the one she had visited for the last few years. But now, she could clearly note them.

There were additions to this version of the residence. Rooms had been added to the sides and a third floor bared down menacingly. It was clearly a different house, but the base was the same one she’d known for 16 years – well, 20, actually.

A girl was sitting in the garden area out front. Quickly, Audrey willed the Dragon’s Eye and scepter to change into a more inconspicuous shape. The girl looked up from her book as the Dragon’s Eye settled into its new shape. Audrey felt a small rush of panic at the girl’s critical gaze.

The girl studied her for a moment before lifting her hand and twisting it inward. Audrey didn’t know how to react. The move had sent a spark of color into the air. The princess half expected it to move in her direction. Instead, it swam around the girl and toward the house.

Audrey slowed her pace and waited for something to happen.

A Few moments later, a woman bustled out of the cottage. She scanned the surrounding area in a daze, like she was looking for a threat.

“Camellia! What have I told you? Unless it’s an emergency –”

She cut herself off as she caught Audrey’s eye.

Flora’s first reaction was to smile sweetly at her god-daughter’s daughter. Her expression quickly morphed into surprise, and then to concern.

“Audrey! What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

The princess hesitated, considering what to say.

“Yes,” she began slowly, “there _is_ something wrong. I’m so sorry to bother you at home, but I thought – now, I knew – that you would be able to help me.”

She slowly began to speak faster. “One of the villain’s kids, Jay, has gone missing. So has Fairy Godmother’s daughter, Jane. I want to believe the best of him, but they only showed up two days ago. He’s the son of Jafar, so I thought maybe he was freaking out about magic –”

“Wait. Why would he freak out about magic?” Camellia questioned. She lifted an eyebrow in curiosity, ignoring the look her mother gave her. “I thought Auradon was still a fairly anti-magic country.”

Audrey paused. She hadn’t considered that until now. This Auradon _was _still fairly anti-magic. It wasn’t like Ben and Mal’s future Auradon where magic had burst back into the limelight like fireworks. They hadn’t even bothered to ease the country into magic, just dove right in.

Flora and the girl Audrey assumed was her daughter watched her expectantly.

“It is, but, like I said, he’s the son of Jafar.” Where was she going with this?

“Oh!” Flora interjected. “Is he a djinn? Poor dear, to have that magic just _forced_ upon him.”

Well, that was one way to go.

“Yes, exactly! I just don’t want them to do something they’ll regret.”

Flora easily accepted her supposed concerns at face value. Her fairy godmother once removed looked ready to help even before she opened her mouth to agree. Camellia, on the other hand, seemed to find fault in something about the situation.

As the green fairy spoke, Audrey sent a small befuddlement spell toward the young girl.

“. . . Library, of course,” Flora was saying. “If we could –”

“I’m so sorry,” Audrey interrupted. “I got lost in thought. Could you repeat that?”

The fairy nodded in understanding. “Of course. I was just saying they might be headed for the Council Library – it would have the most information on how to deal with his newfound magic. We might be able to warn the Council or talk to them before they do anything too harmful to themselves or others. Although, I can’t guess that approaching them ourselves would go very well.”

“Why not?” Audrey did her best to make herself sound confused instead of offended. She wasn’t sure she was very convincing.

“My dear, both Jane and the son of Jafar wield magic. I’m sorry, but you would be no match for them, even with your cheerleading and self-defense classes.”

Right. Because Audrey didn’t know or have magic. “Of course. If we fought them, we would obviously lose. But maybe I can convince Jane not to help him. She’s my friend, I’m worried about her.”

Not a total lie.

Flora nodded. “I understand. Come, we’ll go tell the Council. Camellia?”

Audrey had forgotten about the other girl. She tensed, waiting for Camellia to say something about the charm that was no doubt wearing off.

Camellia just shook her head. Her mother frowned but didn’t say anything about it.

“Let me just go change into something easier to walk in and we’ll be on our way.” She squeezed Audrey’s arm and retreated into the house. The princess smiled gently after her.

As the fairy disappeared, Audrey turned her attention to Camellia. The girl was sizing up the new foe before her.

“What are you?”

Audrey bristled. “Excuse me?”

“I may not be as powerful as my mother and her sisters, but I am still a fairy. And I’m not blinded by my affection for my fairy granddaughter and can see that you’re not the princess Audrey.”

“And how would you know?” Audrey scoffed.

The girl sneered and leaned forward, closing her book. “I’ve known the princess for longer than I can remember. She doesn’t have magic, you do.”

“And how would you know if Princess Audrey has magic or not? I don’t remember meeting you before today.”

Camellia snorted and stood. She didn’t move toward her adversary, but it was clear this was her taking a stand. Camellia turned to go inside, pausing a few steps away from her house. Her voice was low when she added, “Princess Audrey may be a bitch, but she isn’t a magic bitch. She’s made my life hell every time we’ve interacted and refuses to acknowledge my existence otherwise – if she had magic, I’d know.”

Audrey caught a glimpse of her guide in the window and moved forward to speak to Camellia in a hushed tone. The girl froze when she felt the princess’s hand on her arm.

“I _am _Princess Audrey, but I’m not the Audrey you know. _She’s_ dead.” She flashed her eyes, feeling her magic light them blue.

Camellia shrunk away in surprise as Audrey cast another, much more powerful confounding charm on her.

Flora stepped out of her cottage and started to lead the princess away. She didn’t even acknowledge her daughter standing, unmoving in the garden.

“Let’s go save Auradon.”


	24. Poor Unfortunate Souls

Uma watched the clouds intensely. Freddie and Celia had dragged her out of her cave to see them. That had been nearly an hour ago and not much had changed. Now, she was in her crow’s nest watching the strange fog eat at the barrier and spin hauntingly above them.

Harry was on the deck below, staring up in the same direction. He hadn’t said anything about last night, so she hadn’t brought it up. And honestly, she wasn’t even sure he remembered it. But the fact remained that True Love’s Kiss hadn’t worked last night.

He wasn’t her True Love. Him not remembering the failed attempt was just the rotten cherry on top of an already shitty cake.

Uma did her best to not think about that. All it did was remind her of her own slowly retreating memories. Well, that and how hopeless their predicament was.

What chance did they have against a witch – a _sorceress _– with seemingly unlimited power? She’d been clever enough to get passed the museum guards and steal the queen’s crown without magic – a feat that the villain kids hadn’t managed, even with magic. Then, she’d out-smarted them all when she’d used Chad Charming as bait. How was it that she had passed as just another dumb princess for nearly twenty years?

Dumb princesses didn’t have conniving, vindictive revenge plans.

“Uma!” Freddie called up, “Your friends are here to see us.”

The sneer in her twin’s voice was almost tangible. Uma rolled her eyes and stared at the cloud of blue to ensure it wouldn’t be moving any time soon.

Landing expertly on the deck, she made wary eye contact with Evie. Something looked off with Carlos, but Uma wasn’t going to ask. If it was important, he’d tell her.

“What’s up?”

Evie fidgeted nervously with her gloves for a second, clearly still working on what she was going to say.

“I think – I believe you,” she finally said.

Uma nodded slowly. “That’s good. About what?”

Evie waved her hand around sharply. “All of it. I’ve had dreams,” she bit out.

“Dreams?”

“Yes. They weren’t on the Isle. It was all green and open and bright. It was . . . I _hink_ it was –”

“Auradon,” Carlos finished. “You’re remembering Auradon, aren’t you?”

Evie grimaced. “I think so? Maybe. It wasn’t much. But in one of the dreams, there was a boy. He was laying down on a table of some kid. I kissed him and . . .” She trailed off, looking down.

“And?” Freddie prompted.

“And then I woke up, but something felt different. I just shrugged it off and went back to sleep. Then I had a few more dreams like that, but none of them were very clear. I only remember that one.”

“Not that that isn’t great, but I don’t know how it helps us. We’re still trapped on the Isle without magic or a way to contact anyone else in Auradon.” She paused before adding, “But at least we know my memories weren’t just hallucinations of some sort.”

Evie grimaced at the implication. “Well, it’s not just the dreams . . .”

Uma’s interest piqued again and she leaned forward. The princess wasn’t usually known for her inability to speak her mind – or for being unable to finish sentences.

“What happened?”

Evie fidgeted with her hair. “The Barrier is weakening. I got up this morning and was able to not only go up to the barrier, but also touch it.”

“Mmhmm.”

“It cracked. I pushed on it and it spider-webbed like it was glass or plastic.”

Carlos shifted nervously behind her, gaze flickering up to the top of the dome. The pirate knew what he was seeing and wondered what the implications of his shifty stance were.

“The Barrier cracked?” Uma asked. She carefully filed Carlos’s expression into an ‘ask later’ column.

Evie nodded frantically. “And Carlos had the dreams too.”

Uma flinched in surprise. Before she could ask, the son of Cruella De Vil was already discussing some of the visions he’d seen. She recognized some of the events he described and she was certain she knew who the girl he had seen was.

“So, you think you’re remembering –” the future? The other world? – “the other timeline?”

It was Carlos’s turn to wince. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I guess.”

Uma nodded twice. Her gaze flicked up to the dome. The cloud of blue was still hovering ominously at the dome’s peak.

“What are we going to do?”

The sea witch had to keep herself from flinching for the second time in five minutes. She’d never heard Evie Queen sound so scared before. Locking eyes with the princess, Uma was struck by the realization that this Evie was younger than the girl Uma had fought alongside just a few days ago.

“Can you take me to where the Barrier cracked?”

Evie nodded. Frantically, she and Carlos scrambled off the boat. Uma followed, her sisters and Harry still silent at her back. They’d never been so quiet for so long before. It was unnerving.

The six of them moved away from the wharf and to the other end of the island. This was where the isolated castles and houses were. Uma had never spent much time on this side of the island. It felt odd for her to be here now.

Evie led them past a small, broken down castle. Her mother’s crest was proudly displayed on the broken bricks. Uma couldn’t understand how a former queen could live in a place as run down as this. Looking at her guide, she decided it was better not to ask.

On the back of the island, there was a small stretch of land that dipped down to the beach. The sand only lasted a few feet, but the crack spread threateningly above the expanse. The group followed it up with their eyes until their heads were titled back and they couldn’t see the crack anymore.

“That’s not good,” Carlos muttered.

Uma snorted and nodded her agreement. “When did you say you saw the crack appear?”

“I _made_ it appear this morning. All I did was press on the barrier and it cracked – and that was only two hours or so ago. It wasn’t nearly this bad,” Evie replied quickly. Her eyes were blown wide with horror.

Uma hummed noncommittally. She didn’t want them to see how wonderful she found the prospect of the Barrier coming down. She also didn’t want them to see how terrifying she found it. To them, the Barrier falling was a nightmare come to life – although she couldn’t understand why.

“Uma? What do we do?” Evie questioned.

The sea witch was quiet for a moment. When she finally got around to responding, it wasn’t verbal.

The Barrier was broken – _cracked_. That was easy to see. But the kids around her had little to no concept of magic. The Barrier was one of the strongest pieces of magic Uma had ever encountered, even in the outside world. Having fought against the power of the Barrier for almost two years, Uma was sure that the Barrier’s perceived shortcomings were superficial at best.

In one quick move, the witch brought her left palm up to strike the Barrier. Nothing happened. She laughed in slightly hysterical relief and brought her other hand up to rest on the magical shield. The Barrier lilted forward, creaking under her hands as more and more cracks appeared.

They arced high above the group and spread further than the last set. Where the others had disappeared, Uma could see her cracks against a backdrop of blue smoke. The smoke was fighting, trying to break through the cracks.

Uma moved back. She was careful not to push off the Barrier. It groaned again and another set of cracks spiraled upward. Uma didn’t like where this was going.

“Run,” she muttered. Then, louder, “Run – run!”

She turned and followed her own command. The others fell in step with her without much thought. At first, Carlos and Evie trailed behind reluctantly, but they quickly found their own urgency.

“Get everyone you can to the edge of the Isle where there’s less barrier. We don’t know what’s going to happen – it could evaporate like magic on the wind or it could fall like giant shards of glass, but better same than sorry,” Uma instructed over the rushing of the air and the audible cracking.

Henry and the girls went into buildings and then sprinted back toward the center of the Isle. They were ushering people out of the makeshift city. None of the residents listened, content to stay in their dwellings.

“Everyone!” Uma called. “You need to get to the edge of the Isle!” She tried to usher some of the venders away from their stalls, but no one was listening.

Carlos was with her, having even worse luck. Henry looked to be having a bit more influence and Celia had convinced a few patrons to abandon their shopping. Freddie and Evie were no where to be found.

Uma frowned. She hadn’t even noticed the princess disappear on their way in.

The group scrambled for a few moments. Then, they caught sight of their princess. She was standing on the balcony that Maleficent used to address her unwillingly loyal subjects from.

“People of the Isle,” she yelled. The market below her came to a stop in surprise. “You need to get to the edges of the island – where the Barrier is thinnest!”

The villains grumbled but made no move to follow Evie’s instruction. One person even lifted their voice to call, “And why should we do that?”

Uma recognized Jade’s voice, even if she couldn’t see her. Evie eyes flickered around until the found Uma. She pointed up.

Nodding, the princess directed the crowd’s attention to the cracking Barrier. It made a faint creaking noise and a slight shift downward.

There was a distinct lack of screaming as the islanders fled their central location for the Isle’s edges. Uma didn’t bother waiting for the others – or to see if anyone was being left behind.

The Barrier made one final creaky-groan before falling silent.

Then, it shattered.


	25. Cruel Trick of Fate

She heard it before she saw it. And she felt it before she heard it.

High in the mountains at the very edge of the Moors, a girl in a long, flowing red dress ran to the clifftops. Standing on the balcony like ledge, her furtive gaze fixed on the one constant in her life. She’d never been inside the Barrier herself, but from what she knew, it was clear to those within. An invisible wall to keep them in.

What she saw was a warning to stay out. A brilliant blue piece of magic that warned of what wronging the wrong people would do. She had barely escaped imprisonment behind that very Barrier.

It was pure magic, it sung to her even from hundreds of miles away. And now, it was screaming.

Emmeline fixed her eyes onto the dull, greying Barrier. She had watched as it grew dimmer and weaker over the past few days. Now, it was almost black and an ominous cloud of blue sat atop it. She narrowed her eyes on the horizon.

Something inside of her snapped. She yelped and then heard the boom.

Like a glass jar, the Barrier had broken into a thousand pieces and fallen inward. The blue smoke swarmed downward.

Even from her high vantage point, Emmeline couldn’t see beyond the trees. She couldn’t see what the smoke did after it fell down, but something in the air had changed. Like when a storm was on the horizon or the day before a large snowfall. But this change wasn’t as easily pinpointed.

Something from the Isle flashed. She felt a flood of magic throughout the land. And something flared, calling out. It wasn’t directed toward her, but she felt it’s panic and anger even as it tried to stay hidden.

“The Dragon,” she whispered. Starting backwards, the girl kept her eyes trained on where the Barrier had been just moments before. When the sides of the cave started to obscure her vision, she turned and ran down the cavernous halls.

She slid to a stop outside one of the unnatural caves in the system. It still shimmered with the remnants of the magic that had created it.

“Mother,” Emmeline said, moving into the cave. “I have something to tell you.”

“The Dragon’s Eye is awake.”

Emmeline’s head shot back in surprise. “Yes. And –”

“The Barrier has fallen.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

Her mother smiled at her and raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been doing this much longer than you have, darling. I know what powerful magic feels like and I can hear when an old relic calls out to the world.”

“Something’s been wrong for days, I’ve felt it.”

“I have too.”

Emmeline nearly vibrated with frustration. She could never understand why her mother chose to be apathetically calm about everything.

“What are we going to do, Mother?” she demanded.

The woman sighed, moving from where she’d sat at her desk to approach her window. “The Barrier has come down. Every villain on that island has spent twenty years formulating what they would do if they somehow escaped. There will be dozens of people competing for their own revenge and a shot at the crown,” she stated, her voice somehow even less emotional.

When she turned to face Emmeline, there wasn’t even the slightest trace of her mother in her features. They were hardened, blank. And it was this woman, the Enchantress, who spoke.

“We prepare for war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of 'The Queen'. I am working on a sequel, but I'm not sure when I'll start posting chapters for it. Hopefully soon, once I have few written. Thank you for taking this journey with me.


End file.
